A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has found 12 inmates guilty of aggravated assault in connection with a brutal attack inside a Halifax jail.
Thirteen inmates had been tried with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, confinement, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and with obstructing correctional officers, related to an attack on Stephen Anderson at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility on Dec. 2, 2019.
Justice Jamie Campbell found all of the inmates not guilty of the more serious conspiracy and murder charges, saying today that while there was a plan to harm the victim, there wasn’t enough evidence to show the inmates actually intended to kill him.
One of the accused, Geevan Nagendran, was only found guilty of obstruction of the correctional officers, with the judge noting he hadn’t been part of a brief meeting of the inmates in a cell before the attack.
The first trial, held in September, included Jacob Lilly, Wesley Hardiman, Matthew Lambert, Colin Ladelpha, Kirk Carridice and Omar McIntosh, with Lilly also charged with assaulting a police officer.
The second trial, which took place earlier this month, included Kaz Cox, Austin Mitton, Kevin Clarke-McNeil, Andriko Crawley, Robert Fraser, Matthew Coaker and Nagendran.
A 14th defendant, Brian James Marriott, appeared in court Monday, and the discussion of his potential trial date was set over to Dec. 7, with his lawyer saying he may choose to plead guilty prior to that date.
Sophon Sek, the 15th inmate accused in the case, is experiencing serious health issues, and Campbell has indicated his trial may occur at a future date.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021.