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    • 'This is it': Mandolin Books & Coffee Company forced to close after 20 years

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    For more than 20 years, a unique book and coffee shop has been tucked away in Edmonton's Highlands neighbourhood.

    "It's the space that makes us unique," said Lianne Traynor, Mandolin Books & Coffee Company's owner. "It's being in an old historical neighbourhood in a vintage building and the ambiance that we've created is cozy and quaint."

    When she took over the business a decade ago, Traynor described the avenue where it's located as "a little bit sleepy" until the Gibbard Block building nearby underwent renovations and new businesses opened.

    "This place has become very trendy. We are so busy, there's limited parking, there's people here until 10 o'clock every night. It's beautiful," said Traynor.

    She said the building she leases space in was built in 1952 and that the vintage building helps add character to her business.

    Inside the Mandolin Books & Coffee Company on August 7, 2024. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton)

    "On the negative side these buildings start to deteriorate. The mechanical, the plumbing, the electrical, it gets old," she said.

    The kind of upkeep and repairs Traynor thinks led to the sale of the building.

    But Traynor had no idea she wouldn't be part of the building's future.

    She said she didn't have a contract or lease with the previous owners who she'd rented from for years.

    "Until they changed their minds they weren't going anywhere," she said. "It seemed secure but in the end it was not secure."

    She said she was given until the end of September to get out of the space.

    She contemplated relocating the shop, but said with the time and investment needed it couldn't happen in such a short period of time.

    "For me this is it," she said. "My passion, my love for this business is really about serving my neighbourhood and my community."

    Inside the Mandolin Books & Coffee Company on August 7, 2024. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton)

    Since posting news of the impending closure she said many customers have been sharing stories of what her business has meant to them.

    "We used to do stairs in the river valley and then we'd come here for coffee afterwards," said customer Joana Bogas.

    Her group of friends has been regulars at Mandolin for 10 years and now bring their kids.

    "It's really sad to hear that they're closing because it's a part of us, part of our community," she said.

    "There's something magical here that I can't, it's intangible. I can't explain it," said Traynor, adding, "I can only tell stories to say there's people who love this place."

    A place that can't be replicated.

    Traynor herself has gone through a range of emotions from shock, sadness and anger since getting the eviction notice, but said she's now reached an acceptance phase.

    "It's certainly sad, this has been a wonderful 10 years," Traynor said.

    "I am ready for whatever might come next for my life and it's OK."

    With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson

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    A man who has brain damage has a murder conviction reversed after a 34-year fight

    A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man. Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced. “The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years," Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.” Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990. He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble. Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present. His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was "simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case. At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn't remember where. A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery. Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn't the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices. The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum's grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of a new understanding of the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as 'unsafe,' and refused to order a retrial.

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