Brandon woman faces prison for holding teens hostage, beating them

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This article was published 21/08/2019 (2268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The Crown is asking the court to impose a four-year sentence on a Brandon woman who held two teens hostage in her basement, where they were beaten with a mallet and threatened with a firearm.

“The facts alone are horrific. The amount of violence used was significant. The victims… were both children,” Crown attorney Yaso Mathu told provincial court Monday.

“This must have been a terrifying incident for the victims… By just reading the facts, you can appreciate the sense of fear and total despair that both of these young people suffered as a result of this incident.”

Suezette Amber Dawn Bone, 34, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges,including forcible confinement, aggravated assault, using a firearm while committing an indictable offence and assault with a weapon. Two other men face similar charges in the incident, but have yet to enter pleas.

On Oct. 9, Brandon police were called to a group home after a teen in their care had returned with his face swollen and covered in blood, according to a pre-sentence report.

The youth was distraught, and told police he had been tied up in an area home, beaten on the head with a wooden mallet, as well as kicked and punched in the face.

The teen said he was able to get out of his restraints and grab a knife, which he used to ward off his assailants and flee, but his girlfriend was still being held hostage in the house. He also reported being shot at by an aggressor.

Police went to the house and heard a girl yelling from the basement, where they found her hog-tied with cords, report said.

She told police her and her boyfriend had gone to the house to visit the upstairs tenant, but instead found Bone sitting at the kitchen table with a gun. Bone was upset, and accused the two teens of stealing from her.

Bone pushed the two down into the basement.

“The only way you’re leaving here is dead,” she told the teens, according to the report, while pointing a gun at them.

The girl told police she was hit with a hammer on the head and shins after being tied up.

Police found multiple weapons in the basement, including knives, bear spray, a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle and shotgun ammunition.

Officers also located a spent .22-calibre round with a crimped end, leading them to believe it may have been a blank round that was fired at the boy.

In a confession letter sent to the Crown, Bone said she wanted to get revenge as she believed they had stolen her things, Mathu said, despite the fact she had found the missing items in another person’s living area.

“The offence didn’t appear to be completely spontaneous. Ms. Bone apparently had it in her head that these two young people had committed a grievance against her by stealing her things,” Mathu said.

“This wasn’t a quick, 20-minute incident where police were alerted right away. These young kids had to endure being tied up, beat with a hammer, shot at with a gun and threatened for a number of hours.”

Bone was in the throes of a serious addiction to methamphetamine at the time of the offence, Mathu said.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison argued the recommended sentence of four years was “excessive,” instead suggesting a sentence of time already served or a shorter period of custody.

“I would like to apologize for what I’ve done. I feel terrible for my actions. I can’t go back and change what I’ve done, but I can learn from it and use this as a new beginning and a fresh start,” Bone told the court, wiping tears from her face.

“I can’t change what happened, all I can do is forgive myself and move forward and continue working on my sobriety.”

Judge John Combs reserved his decision.

— Brandon Sun