Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering to readers.
The five GTA men arrested following the discovery of a Mississauga man bound and beaten inside an abandoned Orillia gas station in September appear headed for trial.
Three weeks of trial dates have been set for Surjit Singh Bains, Manraj Mann, Dwayne Pennant, Baltej Sandhu, and Gergy Gorburn following months of appearances in case management court.
The five men were from Woodbridge, Brampton and Mississauga were charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, breaking and entering, forcible confinement, weapons counts, and uttering death threats after police arrested them Sept. 27, 2025, inside the Colborne Street and Peter Street South building.
Four of the five accused were granted bail in late 2025, with Bains, Sandhu and Mann released to sureties who pledged $250,000 to get them out on strict conditions. Pennant was also released on a $125,000 pledge in November but is back behind bars accused of breaching his release conditions in May in Brampton.
Pennant stood shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner’s box with Gorburn in an Orillia courtroom Tuesday morning to confirm trial dates starting in December through the end of March.
Gorburn was denied bail in December. The 51-year-old has a lengthy criminal record that includes assaults and breaking and entering. Bains, who is 63, has elected to stand trial before a judge alone. He was initially denied bail and released following more than two months behind bars. His co-accused have not elected how they want to be tried.
A publication ban prevents any evidence heard during their bail hearings from being revealed along with the identity of the man police said was taken to hospital that night with serious injuries.
Provincial police revealed at the time of the arrests, investigators responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle and individuals wearing masks near an abandoned building.
The accused are scheduled to return to virtual courtrooms in July. The allegations against them have not been tested in court.
