(file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Corrections

‘This is a cowardly attack’: 3-on-1 assault at women’s jail proceeds to sentencing

Oct 26, 2022 | 1:00 PM

An incident this month involving inmates at Prince Albert’s Pine Grove Correctional Centre was repeatedly described in court Wednesday as a cowardly attack.

Inmates Carson Desjarlais, Jenna Haraburda and Raymanda Morin appeared by phone at Prince Albert Provincial Court, and all entered guilty pleas to assault. The sentences for each ranged from 45 to 75 days, consecutive to any current time they are serving.

On Oct. 16, around 12:25 p.m., the victim was talking on the phone when she was approached by Morin. Desjarlais and Haraburda also came up behind the woman.

Over the course of the next 48 seconds, the victim was dragged to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked. She sustained bruises to her back and ribs and had marks on her face.

Crown prosecutor John Morrall explained the attack was retribution for the victim’s decision to leave her west side gang.

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“It was a cowardly act,” he said, adding deterrence should be considered in sentencing because the attack happened in a correctional institution.

The attack was referred to as a ‘minute’ in court. A ‘minute’ is a gang-related term used when a person receives discipline for actions committed against the gang, but injuries are not intended to be life-threatening.

While Morin made it clear in court she was not the leader of the incident, she was the one viewed as the person who initiated it and received the longest sentence.

Also taken into consideration were Morin’s Gladue factors which included abuse at a young age, while in foster care. All three women also had ties to residential schools or the ’60s Scoop. While noting the mitigating factors, Judge Harradence said deterrence was still needed.

“This is a cowardly attack,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell