Bail denied for man accused of assault, threats

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This article was published 02/09/2023 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Minnedosa man who is facing allegations of assaulting and threatening his neighbours in a housing complex will remain behind bars while his charges work their way through the court system.

Robert Demchuk was denied bail in Brandon court on Thursday after a judge decided there was no other way to ensure the safety of the people in the building than to keep Demchuk in jail. Demchuk is facing charges of assault and uttering threats.

Crown attorney Reid Girard read the evidence for the charges in court. The charges against Demchuk have not been proven in court and he remains innocent until proven guilty.

On July 6, 2023, Minnedosa RCMP received a report that a tenant at Townview Manor, a Manitoba Housing seniors apartment complex in Minnedosa. The victim told police that another tenant started punching and hitting him, knocking his glasses off and leaving him with a bloody nose.

In his statement to police, the tenant said that he and the man who allegedly attacked him had been neighbours for about two years. The tenant said he thought that his neighbour had been intoxicated, which was the reason for the attack.

The neighbour was arrested and released on an undertaking. The next month, on Aug. 7, Minnedosa RCMP received a report from two people who said that the neighbour threatened to kill them. A different tenant said that the neighbour was aggressive and threatened him and other people in the building, yelling at them to “come out here off Manitoba Housing property and I’ll kick your ass, I’m going to beat the tar out of you.”

The other tenant said that he has known the neighbour for about seven or eight years since living in the building. He said he fears for his safety because he does not know what the neighbour will do next.

Another tenant from the building told police that she was having a nap when she heard screaming and cursing. She looked out her window and looked down to see a fight happening between the neighbour and other tenants.

The neighbour is also accused of violating terms of a peace bond with a woman who was at a unit in the same building at the time.

Girard said that the police saw that there have been ongoing issues with the neighbour at Townview Manor.

“The Crown is of the view that this behaviour could continue and [the tenants of the building] could be put in danger,” he said.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Richert, who was acting as counsel for Demchuk, presented a bail plan that would have Demchuk return to living at the apartment complex. He said that Demchuk doesn’t have other options as he is on social assistance and can’t afford to live elsewhere.

Richert said that the matter may be better classified as a civil rather than criminal, though he did accept Judge Christina Cheater’s statement that threatening to kill to someone makes the matter criminal.

The defence lawyer said that there is more to the story and Demchuk is also on the receiving end of some of the victimization happening at the apartment complex.

He also called into question the peace bond breach charges, saying that the woman doesn’t live at the apartment complex — rather it is her boyfriend’s apartment, and they have motivations to try to have Demchuk evicted from the building.

Cheater had prosecutors try to verify whether the woman was supposed to live at the apartment, but because Demchuk was charged with a breach for attending her residence, the judge had concerns about releasing him back to the apartment complex.

“I’m just not confident that there are any conditions to put Mr. Demchuk on that are going to ensure the safety of the individuals that live in his building,” Cheater said, denying Demchuk bail.

Demchuk’s matter will next appear in Minnedosa court on Sept. 10.

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