A Trail man is appealing his seven-year sentence for a number of violent offences for which he was found guilty in a September 2019 trial in the Rossland courthouse.
Brandon Coons, 27, is listed on the B.C. Court of Appeal hearings itinerary for the week, slated to appear from behind bars via videoconference on Friday, March 5.
He was convicted on five charges, including assault with a weapon, stemming from a New Year’s Eve 2017 kidnapping case involving a young man, formerly of Trail.
At the time of his two-week trial by judge in Rossland, Coons had already been incarcerated for more than 18 months. Even though he was sentenced to seven years, the court credited time served, thereby reducing Coons’ term to four years and 252 days.
This reduced sentence resulted from four guilty convictions; assault with a weapon, use of an imitation firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon (brass knuckles), and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
The fifth conviction was for uttering threats. Coons was given a five-year sentence for this crime, but with time served, it was reduced to two years and 252 days. All of his sentences are concurrent.
Coons will have a mandatory lifetime prohibition for firearms upon his release from jail.
According to court documents, this case began Dec. 31, 2017 when Coons picked up a man at the Greyhound bus stop in Castlegar, and drove him to Birchbank Station Road near Trail. Two masked men arrived, pulled the victim from Coons’ vehicle, and beat him. Court records state that Coons joined in the assault of the victim, and a baton-style stun gun was used.
The victim was accused of stealing $20,000 worth of cannabis from Coons, although this accusation was never established by police. The victim told his assailants that he took the cannabis to Chilliwack. The two masked men left, and Coons drove the victim to his home near Trail, where he was forcibly confined for an hour, and had a gun pointed at his head.
Soon after, two men arrived and picked up the victim and drove him toward Chilliwack to recover the allegedly stolen cannabis. When the trio stopped at a gas station in Kelowna, the victim escaped by locking himself in the gas station bathroom, and called the police from his cell phone.
The two men pleaded guilty to their charges.
READ MORE: Trail man gets 7 years after victim beaten, kidnapped
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