Security guard assault nets 9 months in jail

A 37-year-old man was sentenced to nine months in jail on Monday after he lunged at a Prairie Mountain Health security guard with a knife and pushed him, resulting in the employee breaking his ankle.

Frank Benn was high on crystal methamphetamine and experiencing negative side effects from being off medication when he assaulted the guard at The Town Centre mall on July 22, said his defence lawyer, Bob Harrison, in Brandon provincial court.

“He was suffering from mental health issues at the time,” Harrison said, adding that his client initially planned to see a psychiatrist and feels remorse for his actions.

Benn, who appeared virtually from the Brandon Correctional Centre, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, failing to comply with a release order, and another weapons charge for an incident in May.

The accused wiped tears from his face as he listened to the lawyers describe both incidents before the judge imposed his sentence.

Police officers were called to The Town Centre on Rosser Avenue in downtown Brandon for a report involving an “aggressive, shirtless man with a knife,” who was arguing with security outside of the Prairie Mountain Health office, Crown attorney Melania Cannon said.

“It was reported that he had a five-inch pocketknife, and the blade was out,” she said.

The employee told police that Benn was acting erratically, had lunged at him with a knife and pushed him multiple times, Cannon said.

“This individual, when pushed by Mr. Benn, fell backwards and injured his ankle,” she said.

At first, the security guard thought he had twisted his ankle, but he later discovered it was broken.

About two months prior to the assault, Benn was arrested for possessing a weapon in Brandon, Cannon said.

On May 20, police received a report about a man carrying a knife who was trying to smash glass at the front entrance of the Keystone Motor Inn on 18th Street.

The suspect fled the area before police arrived on scene. While officers patrolled nearby, they encountered Benn, who told police he was in possession of a knife and was taken into custody.

“Once he was arrested, he became verbally confrontational … and then was behaving erratically,” Cannon said.

“Nothing more came of the allegation with regard to a man trying to smash glass at the Keystone.”

The Crown suggested nine months in custody for the assault and 30-day concurrent sentences each for possessing the knife and breaching his release order in July, along with a fine of forfeiture for the May incident.

Harrison argued Benn should face a four-month sentence for the assault given that he was struggling with his mental health and more time in custody wouldn’t help.

Benn has 102 days of credit for time served.

Harrison said his client has been participating in programming and plans to seek additional counselling and treatment to manage his addiction and mental health issues.

Judge Patrick Sullivan acknowledged Benn’s guilty pleas as a sign of remorse and accountability while pointing out any substance use would negatively impact his mental health.

“At some stage in the near future, you’re going to be back in the community. You need to understand the relationship between drugs and your mental health,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan expressed frustration toward Benn about breaching his court order not to possess weapons when the message “would have been made very clear” upon his release.

“A condition like that is to protect the public, to ensure that you’re not back out there with weapons or involving yourself in violence, and a little over a month later, you’re back in the community with a knife, acting out in The Town Centre,” the judge said.

“You pushed an employee … working at an organization in The Town Centre meant to be there to help people in crisis, meant to be there to help people who are sick and struggling.”

Though the knife wasn’t used to harm the individual, a broken ankle is a very serious injury that would have gravely impacted the victim for months as the bone healed, Sullivan said.

Sullivan took the Crown’s suggestion because he said he thought it was fair. He imposed an additional 10-year weapons prohibition and one year of unsupervised probation with conditions not to possess any weapons, contact the employee or attend The Town Centre.

» tadamski@brandonsun.ca