Four years for role in violent robbery

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This article was published 02/03/2021 (2026 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a robbery that left a man in the hospital with serious injuries.

Drayden Paul, 24, pleaded guilty in Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench to break-and-enter and robbery on Monday afternoon.

Crown attorney Grant Hughes said the break-in happened on Dec. 7, 2018, when police received a 911 call from a 10th Street residence.

A neighbour told police they just saw three men kick in the door of the apartment next door and they were still inside, said Hughes.

When police arrived, they found two men walking down the steps of an apartment building carrying a TV. When the men saw police, one of them ran, said Hughes, and another one stayed behind.

Officers also found a crowbar at the bottom of the stairs the men were coming down.

Police found Paul in the area a few minutes later with cuts on his knuckles from punching with a closed fist. Hughes said he was wearing all black, matching the description of the suspects from the 911 caller.

Officers went into the apartment and found a badly injured 58-year-old man. He was covered in blood and his left ear was partially severed, the Crown told the court.

The man was taken to the hospital, where he gave a statement to police.

Hughes said he told officers he was in bed when he saw three men in the back lane behind his apartment before he heard his door being forced open.

The assailants came into his bedroom and two of the men hit him in the head, one with a bar or a pipe, the victim told police. He lost memory of what happened next.

Police tried to conduct a followup interview an hour later, but the man said he no longer remembered what happened or that he talked to police earlier, said Hughes.

The man was left with a severed left ear, bruised right eye, facial swelling and three circular cuts to the left side of his chest, bicep and forearm. The cuts were consistent with being speared with the end of a metal pipe, said Hughes.

Both the victim’s and Paul’s DNA were on a pipe officers found at the residence, said the Crown.

Both Hughes and defence lawyer William Marks jointly recommended a four-year sentence, less time already served, and two years of probation.

Hughes said Paul should get credit for pleading guilty and saving jurors from having to have to sit through multiple days of trial and deliberate during the pandemic.

“This was a fairly terrifying incident from the perspective of (the victim). One can only imagine sleeping in your apartment and two individuals come in, beating you up rather severely,” said Hughes.

In a victim impact statement read by a Spanish translator, the victim said he never imagined being in the situation and has lost trust in others. He said he fears for his security and is scared someone could again knock on his door with the intention to hurt him.

The man said he received stitches on his mouth and ear and sometimes feels a stretching sensation in his cheek after the injuries he sustained.

Marks said Paul had a difficult upbringing, but said his client didn’t want to go into detail in court. He also has addiction issues, which played a part in the events of Dec. 7, 2018.

“He definitely has people out there that do care about him, it’s just a matter of Mr. Paul making the decisions to actually follow through with possibly better decisions going forward,” said Marks.

Justice Scott Abel endorsed the joint recommendation and said it takes into account the violence and injury inflicted on the victim.

Abel sentenced Paul to four years in prison, minus approximately three years time served, and two years of unsupervised probation.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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