Time served for role in jail assault

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This article was published 24/11/2021 (1751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who pleaded guilty to spitting on a man following a brutal beating at Brandon’s jail was sentenced to six months time served on Monday morning.

Jack Sandy, 23, pleaded guilty in the Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench to assault in the July 22, 2019, incident at the Brandon Correctional Centre.

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup said it’s unclear what ultimately happened in the cell on July 22, but the victim left the room “brutalized.”

“[The victim] was savaged,” Lonstrup said.

The inmate ended up with fractured fingers, bruising to his head, cuts on the back of his head that needed six staples, two wounds above his right eye needing five stitches, and other cuts, Lonstrup said.

“He was brutalized, we know by a number of people,” he said.

“We know [the victim] went in healthy and by the time that door was open, he was laid out on the ground. He had to be dragged out.”

Lonstrup said Sandy was an “aggressor” in the incident, but it’s unclear the extent or what happened in the jail cell during the beating.

“Jack Sandy appears to be the second person who spits on the accused, but Jack Sandy, when he is climbing over [the victim], very blatantly bends down, leans over and with extreme contempt, spits on him.”

Lonstrup asked the judge to sentence him to a year of time served in jail for the incident, saying a strong message against jailhouse assaults is needed.

“The people in jail are stuck there, they don’t have the freedom to leave. The province has a specific charge to keep them safe,” he said.

Defence lawyer Mandeep Bhangu said jail was a scary place for Sandy and a place where the regular rules of society don’t apply.

“Fights on that range were actually mandatory, it was part of being on that range,” he said, adding the fight was not started by Sandy.

“We don’t see what happens inside; what we see is what happens with Mr. Sandy outside.”

Officers took pictures of injuries to inmates on both sides after the fight, but Sandy was not hurt in the incident, which Bhangu said is important to note.

Sandy is very sorry for his role in the incident, Bhangu said, and wants to live a quiet life going forward. He also noted Sandy has been on bail for approximately a year and has not breached court-ordered conditions since getting out of jail.

Sandy sat quietly in the witness box while Bhangu spoke.

Judge Elliot Leven said the assault was very serious and any beating in jail needs to be condemned. Despite this, Leven said Sandy appears to be headed in a good direction and has turned over a new leaf.

He sentenced Sandy to six months time served in jail and two years unsupervised probation. He also banned him from owning weapons for 10 years.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_