Two police officers were justified in entering a crack mom’s “disgusting” apartment, despite not having a warrant, to save her children from harm, a prosecutor says.

“Far from being criticized, the two young officers ought to be commended. They rescued two babies from a crack house,” Crown attorney Laura Bird told a judge Tuesday.

Taranjit Grewal, 28, has pleaded guilty to corrupting the morals of her two little girls, one two years old, the other 15 months, but has pleaded not guilty to illegally possessing a .22-calibre handgun.

The two officers entering Grewal’s Kipling Ave. apartment on Feb. 23, 2010, found her two neglected children and the handgun on her fridge, court heard

Grewal is trying to exclude evidence of the gun, arguing that it was obtained in violation of her rights against unreasonable search and seizure.


She claims the pistol was left by an acquaintance on her fridge, where it sat for three months without her noticing.

Consts. Matthew De Melo and Michael Thomas testified Grewal let them in.

But she testified that, on the contrary, one of them had his foot in her door and she felt she had to let them in.

“It does not make sense that Ms Grewal would say ‘okay,’ open the door and let them in,” defence lawyer Kristin Bailey told Ontario Superior Court Justice Faye McWatt.

“Children crying and someone acting suspicious does not give police the authority to enter a private dwelling,” she said.

But the prosecutor countered that the only reason the officers were at the door was because Grewal phoned Telehealth Ontario for medical advice and lost consciousness on the line, prompting 911 to be called.

Once at the door, the officers heard a child crying inside and caught a glimpse of the filthy conditions, so they were duty bound to enter, Bird said.


Court has heard the apartment was strewn with garbage, drug paraphernalia and cat feces, and that Grewal’s two children were neglected and hungry.

Doctors tested the girls’ hair and found they had been exposed to cocaine for several months.

“Even in the disgusting state the apartment was in, the gun was plainly visible,” Bird added.

McWatt reserved her ruling until Nov. 28 on whether to allow the gun evidence.