A 41-year-old Brampton, Ont. man, accused of being part of the kidnapping and torture of a Mississauga man who was found bound and beaten inside an abandoned Orillia gas station in late September, has been granted bail.
The release plan, however, was not what Dwayne Pennant had hoped for when the Justice of the Peace ordered Pennant be under full house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.
Pennant was granted bail after three loved ones, including his employer, pledged a total of $125,000 to get him out of jail where Pennant had been since his arrest the night of Sept. 27 in Orillia.
His release conditions were similar to those of his co-accused, 30-year-old Baltej Sandhu of Brampton, who was the first of the accused group granted bail. In mid-October, Sandhu and four sureties put up a quarter of a million dollars to secure his release from custody under around-the-clock supervision.
Pennant was charged alongside Sandhu and three other men from the Greater Toronto Area with attempted murder and kidnapping, forcible confinement, and breaking and entering to commit an indictable offence. The charges stemmed from their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a Mississauga man who police said was found inside an abandoned Orillia gas station, at the corner of Colborne and Peter streets, bound and beaten.
The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Two of Pennant’s other co-accused were denied bail last month. Surjit Singh Bains, 63, of Woodbridge and Manraj Mann, 31, of Brampton were remanded into custody, despite loved ones pledging more than $200,000 for Mann and $50,000 for Bains during special bail hearings.
Bains is seeking another opportunity at bail in December. Mann is scheduled to return to court by video from jail in late November.
The fifth man accused, Gergy Anthony Gorburn, 51, of Toronto, remains in custody. According to court documents obtained by CTV News, Gorburn has a lengthy criminal record including assaults and breaking and entering charges. He returns to court in a week.
A publication ban prevents any evidence heard in court from being released. The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.
Pennant and Sandhu are scheduled to return to an Orillia courtroom in January.
