Inmate sentenced for role in trashing jail unit

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This article was published 26/03/2024 (741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence will now also be serving an extra month for his role in trashing a unit at Brandon Correctional Centre in 2022.

Theodoros Kyriakakos, 24, pleaded guilty to mischief under $5,000 in Brandon provincial court on Monday. The Crown and defence agreed on the sentence.

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup read the evidence for the charge in court.

On Nov. 11, 2022, Brandon police were notified that members of sub-unit Bravo at Brandon Correctional Centre had trashed the unit. When the police arrived, they took photographs of extensive damage. There was a smashed TV, food items thrown around, hygiene products tossed around, broken furniture and a doorknob that had been smashed off of a steel door had been thrown through a large glass window.

The destruction began after another inmate had become agitated and the aggression spread to other inmates. Cameras were damaged, so there was no video footage of the actual incident that was captured.

However, Kyriakakos took responsibility for throwing the severed doorknob at the window. The cost of the window damage was $4,884.

Lonstrup said the recommended month-long sentence was a result of the issues that the Crown would likely have trying to prove the offence at trial without security footage.

“The real go-forward (jail time), from the Crown’s benefit, is it has made clear he was not a well-behaved provincial remand inmate and I think that’s the best we get out of the circumstances,” the Crown attorney said.

Kyriakakos’ defence lawyer, Laura Robinson, told the court that her client is now serving his sentence at Warkworth Institution, a prison in Ontario, where he is taking programming offered by the prison.

Robinson said that after the destructive events at the Brandon jail in 2022, Kyriakakos received punishment from the jail, including segregation and fines.

“Not only do we have immediate consequences, we now have the acceptance of responsibility and entry on his criminal record, and an additional sentence that he is facing,” the defence lawyer said.

Robinson also added details about Kyriakakos’ background — he was born in Eritrea and placed in an orphanage at 10 months old. He was adopted by an Eritrean couple by age three and moved to Canada a year later.

Judge John Combs called incidents like the 2022 jailhouse destruction “far too common” because of the stress of being in custody and being exposed to the rigid controls imposed by a jail.

“But obviously, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable,” the judge said, choosing to endorse the recommended month-long sentence.

Kyriakakos was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Winnipeg judge last October after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the death of Kyle Braithwaite, 29, who was a B-Side gang member. Braithwaite was shot in the chest and back by Kyriakakos’ co-accused, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

An Impact of Race and Culture Assessment Report cited by the sentencing judge in a written decision stated that Kyriakakos grew up in Winnipeg but also spent time in Toronto and struggled with instability in his life. He struggled to find work and turned to crime to financially sustain himself.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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