Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard wants charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement stayed because of police bungling.

His lawyer, Gerri Wiebe, told court Monday that police failed to keep records of the complainant's first interaction with officers nearly 30 years ago, undercutting Nygard’s right to a fair trial.

"I would say that you ought to find that the loss of these two police files were due to unacceptable negligence," Wiebe told provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie.

"The complainant here can say anything she wants to about what she did or didn't tell the police ... I have virtually nothing to challenge that with."

Nygard, 84, appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom via video link for the first day of scheduled hearings this week. He was wearing a ball cap, sunglasse

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