Man conceals knife blades in rectum

A man’s claim he was kidnapped and forced at knifepoint to insert marijuana and knife blades up his rectum and ordered to smuggle the items into the Thorold jail didn’t sit well with a local judge.

Judge Peter Wilkie on Thursday ruled aspects of Kidus Dawit’s story didn’t sound plausible and that his account was “deliberately incomplete.”

Dawit was found guilty in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines to charges of possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon. He is scheduled to return to court Sept. 14 for sentencing.

The 28-year-old man testified at trial that several unknown people confronted him at a residence in Niagara and drove him to Hamilton.

He said he was forced at knifepoint to insert what he was told were packages of tobacco.

He said he was instructed to deliver the contraband to unnamed inmates at Niagara Detention Centre. If he failed to deliver, he was told he’d be assaulted by the intended recipients inside the jail.

The judge said Dawit’s testimony “did not inspire confidence in his credibility.”

Court heard Dawit turned himself in to the courthouse in

St. Catharines and then spent the night in a holding cell at the police station. As preparations were being made to transfer him to Niagara Detention Centre, he was captured on video “excreting” the items from his rectum.

Two packages were seized. One contained a condom filled with marijuana and the second package had two four-inch-long knife blades.

Dawit testified he was unable to reach out to authorities for assistance because he was under guard by his captors.

The judge noted, however, that the defendant was alone, and had the items in his rectum for close to 25 hours, before the contraband was discovered.

He said the packages must have caused “significant discomfort” to the defendant.

Dawit said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t feel police would be able to protect him once he was in custody.

He maintained he believed the packages contained tobacco.

The judge ruled the man must have been “acutely aware” that one package was larger than the other.