A Nova Scotia judge is keeping secret the names of three lawyers that a Halifax police detective suggested last year were implicated in tipping off another lawyer that he was under investigation for sexual assault.

Lawyer Billy Sparks killed himself in March 2024, days after police searched his home near downtown Halifax over allegations he had sexually assaulted and extorted intimate photos from vulnerable young men who were his clients.

According to an affidavit sworn by Det.-Const. Michael Sul…