BCC beating nets another 18 months

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This article was published 06/07/2023 (1173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man will be spending even more time behind bars at Brandon Correctional Centre after he was sentenced to a year-and-a-half for his part in a jailhouse beating last November.

Derrick Leaver pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm in court on Wednesday for violently beating a fellow inmate, a Good Samaritan who’d tried to intervene in the beating of another.

Crown and defence agreed on the sentence for Leaver, which included crediting him for nearly three months he has already spent in jail.

Much of the evidence for the charge against Leaver is a video recording of the incident from the jail, which Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup presented to the court during sentencing.

The video showed an inmate being attacked by a number of others, prior to Leaver appearing. Another inmate, trying to be a Good Samaritan, attempted to intervene by fending off the attackers but wound up being attacked himself by Leaver who emerged from his cell.

Leaver could be seen punching and kicking the Good Samaritan while he was on the floor, curled in a fetal position. At one point, Leaver grabbed a chair and hit the victim on his head with it.

Leaver also took a turn with another man to hold a mattress against the door to prevent guards from coming into the jail unit.

The guards later managed to spray pepper spray under the door, which eventually broke up the fight.

In its review of the video, the Brandon Police Service counted 16 punches and 30 kicks or stomps which were frequently aimed at the victim’s head.The victim received serious injuries, including bruising and fractures to his eye socket and ribs.

Lonstrup said that neither the man who was the target of the original assault nor the Good Samaritan who received the beating by Leaver gave statements, worried thety’d face retribution if they did.

The prosecutor emphasized the seriousness of an assault that happens in a jail setting where the government has an obligation to keep people safe.

While the Crown could not prove that there was any premeditation to the attack, Lonstrup said that the fact Leaver was part of a gang of people beating up vulnerable victims involved some level of co-ordination.

“This is not the equivalent of a consent fight gone wrong,” Lonstrup said. “This is cowardly and it’s bullying.”

The Crown attorney also added that not only was Leaver part of the beating, but he also blocked the door off with a mattress, limiting the ability for jail staff to help the victim.

As he closed his submission, Lonstrup called Leaver’s victim noble, as he wouldn’t have been injured if he hadn’t stepped in to help the original target of the attack.

“The person that got targeted here was trying to do the right thing,” the prosecutor said.

Leaver’s Winnipeg-based lawyer, Morgan Lawrence, explained the facts to the court from her client’s perspective.

There’s no video footage that shows the events that started the fight, but Leaver had indicated to his lawyer that the victim of the initial assault was attacked because he had charges that involved children.

Lawrence delivered compassionate submissions about her client’s background and challenging upbringing. The 32-year-old Indigenous man was born in Winnipeg, where he lived for much of his early life. His mom would often take his CFS subsidy to buy alcohol or pills.

Lawrence said Leaver started working at McDonald’s when he was 14, and around that time he was introduced to crystal meth. Eventually, he was apprehended by CFS to live with his grandparents in Killarney, which brought him to the Westman area.

Her client has been diagnosed with FASD, which contributes to his struggles with impulsivity, Lawrence said.

Leaver, who appeared in court from Brandon Correctional Centre by video, offered a tearful apology: “I just ask for forgiveness.”

Judge Patrick Sullivan said that watching the video was impactful because of the unrestrained violence it depicted.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Mr. Leaver,” the judge said. “In my view, it was pathetic. Your behaviour was disgusting. It lacked humanity, it lacked empathy.”

Noting the length of the jail sentence, Sullivan asked Leaver what the point of the attack was, given that he could have been out of jail by now if he had not taken part in the beating.

“What did you achieve that day?” the judge asked Leaver.

Sullivan ultimately endorsed the recommended sentence. In closing his decision, the judge told Leaver that even though he had used some strong words to describe the 32-year old’s behaviour, he offered encouragement to the man.

“That does not necessarily need to be who you are. We don’t need to be defined by the worst thing that we’ve ever done,” Sullivan said.

In addition to the jail sentence, Leaver was also sentenced to a 10-year weapons prohibition and to a two-year probation term after his release.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @geena_mortfield