Drug and gun charges withdrawn against boyfriend of nurse shot dead

Drug and gun charges laid a year ago have been withdrawn against the boyfriend of a slain London nurse.

On Thursday, during a brief court appearance, assistant Crown attorney Marcia Hilliard asked Ontario Court Justice Brian White to withdraw a raft of gun and drug charges laid against Ali Bhatti, stemming from a series of police searches in London on Nov. 8, 2024.

Bhatti, 31, who was the boyfriend of London nurse Lynda Marques, 30, and has a history of drug-related convictions, agreed to forfeit ammunition and magazines discovered during the investigation.

It’s the second time this month that the legality of police search warrants have taken centre stage in Bhatti’s complicated history before the criminal courts.

Marques was gunned down on Sept. 10, 2021, by two masked men believed