Man made to mop up own blood in vicious assault

Having been confined and beaten for several hours and left with initials carved into his chest, a man later told police he thought he was going to die, court heard.

On Wednesday, a 28-year-old woman pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and unlawful confinement in relation to the March 16, 2017, incident.

Two people were previously sentenced for their roles in the assault, with one — Kelly Delbert Daniels (a.k.a. Brittain) — receiving the equivalent of eight years. At Regina provincial court on Wednesday, Daniels’s sister, Janay Keewatin, became the third person to be sentenced, receiving a 31-month prison term — less approximately 5½ months remand credit — for her role.

Crown prosecutor Chris White told court the assault sprang from a break-in committed by the victim at a garage — an attempt to retrieve some computers he said were his. The garage was connected with a house shared by several people in the group who, not long after, decided to exact revenge on the man.

White said, on the March date, the victim wanted to borrow a drill from someone at the house. He was barely in the door when he was set upon.

In the course of the next three to four hours, the man was repeatedly beaten, mainly by Daniels, who court heard, had to take occasional breaks when he got tired. A bladed weapon was also used during the attack, with Daniels carving the letters “SW” into the man’s chest — presumably, White said, to indicate the Saskatchewan Warriors gang.

Court didn’t hear evidence those involved are actually members or associates of that gang.

White said the assault involved a “significant amount of bloodletting,” noting the victim was made to mop up his own blood and then shower.

Court heard Keewatin delivered a couple of blows and, at one point, retrieved a replica handgun that Daniels used to menace the victim. White added Keewatin and a second woman at one point suggested the assault should stop, although it continued nonetheless.

White said the man was eventually led from the house by Keewatin and a second woman. The man was told he would be killed if he said anything.

“It was a fairly terrifying experience for (the victim),” White said.

Defence lawyer Thomas Hynes said his client’s struggles with substance abuse led her to the house that day, given she was looking to get some morphine there.

Her issues, which Hynes observed are not uncommon to Indigenous people who come before the court, are the result of parental problems, placement in the foster care system, and her own problems with substance abuse and negative peers.

Keewatin offered an apology “for being so much trouble and causing pain to (the victim).” hpolischuk@postmedia.com twitter.com/LPHeatherP