Attackers sentenced for manslaughter in beating death

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This article was published 28/11/2023 (1044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The impact on the family of Matthew Swain, a 40-year-old man who died after being assaulted by two men, played a role in deciding the fate of Swain’s attackers, the sentencing judge said.

In a Brandon court on Monday, King’s Bench Justice Scott Abel sentenced Desmond Tanner and Robert Fleury, both from Gambler First Nation, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Swain, also from Gambler.

Tanner, 31, was sentenced to five years and two-and-a-half months behind bars and Fleury, 36, was sentenced to five years. With the time they have already spent in custody as part of their sentence, both men will serve the remainder of their sentences in provincial jail, which accommodates sentences that are less than two years.

“Nothing I say or do by way of sentencing can replace the life of Mr. Swain,” Abel said. “There’s hope that (with) this matter coming to a conclusion, the family of Mr. Swain can continue with their journey of healing.”

The Crown sought a sentence of six years for Tanner and four to five years for Fleury. Tanner’s lawyer asked that his client be sentenced closer to five years, while Fleury’s lawyer asked for three and a half years. Tanner was originally charged with second-degree murder, while Fleury was charged with manslaughter. However, both men later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Swain’s family also spoke during the sentencing submissions and detailed the devastating effects the loss of Swain has had on them, including how Swain’s young daughter will not grow up with her father.

In 2019, Fleury and Tanner were drinking with Swain when a fight broke out in which Swain was badly beaten. Later that night, Tanner’s girlfriend came home and found Fleury passed out with blood on his hands and Tanner frantically trying to clean up blood in the house, while an injured Swain was in their Jeep outside.

Tanner’s girlfriend eventually persuaded him to take Swain to the hospital, but their Jeep broke down on the way there. Without identifying himself, Tanner called 911 about the Jeep and Swain’s condition. An ambulance eventually arrived and transported Swain to the Russell hospital, where he later died as a result of a blunt-force head injury.

Abel reserved his decision after hearing the sentencing submissions from the Crown and defence in September. He read his decision in a King’s Bench courtroom where Swain’s family filled two rows of the gallery. The judge said he weighed the factors that made the events that night worse, like the fact that neither Tanner nor Fleury rushed to get Swain medical help right away and that they both have convictions for violence on their criminal records.

The judge said the sentence also had to consider Tanner and Fleury’s remorse, in the form of their guilty pleas, as well as their backgrounds — both experienced a lack of stability in their lives growing up and witnessed domestic violence in their homes as children.

In his decision, Abel sided with Tanner’s defence lawyer, who at sentencing submissions argued that his client should be given a sentence that allowed him to stay in provincial jail where he could continue his rehabilitation efforts. Abel said that if Tanner was sentenced to serve time in a federal prison, he could be eligible for early parole, meaning that he might serve less time in prison than in provincial jail. The judge decided that the three-and-a-half years asked by Fleury’s lawyer was too low, especially in light of a lack of effort toward rehabilitation by Fleury during the time he has already spent in custody.

Ultimately, Tanner will serve the maximum provincial jail sentence, and Fleury will serve just under two years.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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