The retired judge presiding over a disciplinary hearing for a senior Toronto police officer charged in relation to G20 “kettling” incidents can no longer continue with the tribunal.

Former Ontario Superior Court justice Peter Grossi has a medical issue that prevents him from continuing, the hearing at police headquarters was told Friday.

The disciplinary hearing, which began Wednesday, is for Supt. David (Mark) Fenton, who faces five charges of unlawful arrest and discreditable conduct for his involvement in ordering mass arrests and kettling of protesters at the June 2010 G20 summit in Toronto.

Hearing officer Supt. Debra Preston said she learned about Grossi’s medical issue, which she would not describe, five minutes before the Friday session was to start.

Police will look at other options over the weekend, said Preston. “Hopefully we’re able to continue with this hearing as scheduled,” she said, adding the chief’s office will be reaching out to other retired justices for a replacement.

It is unclear if the proceedings will be delayed or what will happen to evidence presented to Grossi on Wednesday and Thursday, said Preston.

Fenton is most senior officer charged in relation to G20 events. The only other senior officer charged, Insp. Gary Meissner, is now retired.

Fenton was the incident commander who ordered the mass arrests and kettling over the G20 weekend.

Kettling is a controversial police crowd-control tactic that involves officers corralling a group of people by boxing them into an area, controlling whether or not they can leave.

During the first two days of the hearing, witnesses for the prosecution gave evidence regarding their interactions with police at The Esplanade on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

One man spoke about watching lines of police in riot gear close in on protesters and bystanders. Another said he was detained for 23 hours after police arrested him.

TVO journalist Steve Paikin, who was at The Esplanade as a reporter, told the hearing he’s never seen so much riot gear or a police presence at a protest.

“I had not seen a demonstration like this before,” said Paikin, speaking to reporters outside the hearing. “You had people soaking wet from the rain, sitting in the street, not being a threat to anybody, who suddenly were kettled up and arrested.”

The hearing had been scheduled to take six weeks.

If Fenton is found guilty of misconduct, the hearing officer who replaces Grossi will be responsible for finding him guilty or not guilty of misconduct under the Police Services Act. If the verdict is guilty, a subsequent penalty hearing will be held.

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Lawyers for the complainants said the case could be precedent-setting if it results in a guilty verdict for the high-ranking officer.