Winnipeg Free Press

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All prices subject to PST and GST, and container deposit where applicable. Prices subject to change without notice. While quantities last. M O R E G R E AT O F F E R S I N - S T O R E A N D O N L I N E . MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A5 NEWS I MANITOBA Ninette man sentenced in mother’s death B RANDON — A 24-year-old Ninette man who pleaded guilty to man- slaughter last year after killing his 61-year-old mother in 2021 will spend just over four years behind bars, a King’s Bench courtroom heard. Judge Elliot Leven gave his written decision on the fate of Nicholas Mass on Friday afternoon. Leven took time to decide on the sentence after first hear- ing sentencing submissions in Novem- ber 2023. Leven sentenced Mass to a nine-year prison sentence with credit for time served — just under five years — meaning Mass will spend just over four more years behind bars. The Crown and defence were far apart in their recommended sentence, with the Crown asking for 14 years be- hind bars and defence asking for four to six years. Catherine Mass’s body was found by Killarney RCMP wrapped in a tarp in the basement of her Ninette home on March 12, 2021. During the judge-alone trial, evidence was presented through the testimonies of seven witnesses, in- cluding a pathologist who testified that Catherine died by strangulation, and an RCMP officer who testified that at the scene he found disposable gloves and disposable used wipes, which were stained red, in the kitchen garbage. The court also heard audio record- ings from Catherine’s phone of argu- mentative exchanges between her and Nicholas. Ultimately, the Crown accepted a guilty plea of manslaughter as there was not sufficient evidence to prove intent for the second-degree murder charge. In Canada, second-degree mur- der requires the Crown to prove intent to kill or cause death, whereas man- slaughter is a slaying that lacks the in- tent to commit murder. At the sentencing submissions, Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup told the court that Catherine had given her son a place to stay in her house during the pandemic. However, the relationship between the two was contentious and Catherine made unsuccessful attempts to receive a protection order against her son. Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds’ sub- missions focused on his Nicholas’s lack of history of physical violence against his mother before her death, his signifi- cant mental health issues and his use of hallucinogenic drugs that impacted his perception of reality. Leven’s decision cited case law pre- sented by both lawyers that he conclud- ed show an appropriate sentence for Mass would be less than 11 years. “The offence was a brutal one. The fact that the offender attempted to hide the corpse is aggravating, or at least points in the direction of a harsher (rather than more lenient) sentence,” the judge wrote. Leven called Mass a “youthful” of- fender, as he was 21 at the time of the killing, had no prior criminal record, expressed remorse during sentencing submissions and pleaded guilty part- way through the trial last fall. Ultimately, the judge decided to im- pose a nine-year sentence and a life- time firearms prohibition. Federal prisoners in Canada are eli- gible for parole after serving one-third of their sentence. — Brandon Sun GEENA MORTFIELD Pleaded guilty to manslaughter Brandon hospital to have 16 institutional safety officers BRANDON — Brandon Regional Health Centre will have 16 institutional safety officers patrolling the hospital in an effort to improve safety and secur- ity, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe says. The details from Wiebe came last week after the province announced that Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre would have officers on the job. “They work closely with law enforce- ment,” Wiebe said in an interview. “It is an expanded set of tools that they would have beyond what a normal sec- urity guard would have. And ultimate- ly, they’re working closely with law en- forcement, with the health department, and with health institutions to ensure that they’re keeping people safe.” According to the Police Services Act, institutional safety officers are responsible for maintaining the safety and security of hospitals and post-sec- ondary institutions. They are trained in public safety and crime prevention, various deescalation techniques, en- forcement of provincial laws, arrests, searches and seizures, use of force and officer safety, note-taking, interview basics, court preparation and mental health awareness. The officers will have an “expanded scope and expanded authority” com- pared to security guards, Wiebe said, adding that they will be allowed to carry a baton and pepper gel. The prov- ince amended the Police Services Act in the fall of 2021 to allow post-second- ary institutions and health-care facili- ties to establish institutional security officer positions. “Quite frankly, this was something that was passed in the legislature… yet no work was actually done to train these folks, support these folks and get them out into our healthcare system. So, it’s a big need and it’s something that the previous government didn’t get done,” Wiebe said, adding that many new officers are coming out of As- siniboine Community College’s train- ing program. Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson welcomed the an- nouncement of the officers for Bran- don’s hospital. She said that the union has been advocating for institutional safety officers for a while after seeing an increase in violence towards staff in healthcare facilities. “If staff are not safe, then neither are patients, and neither are visitors or families, so it’s really an effort to keep everyone in our health-care facilities safe,” Jackson said. She added that the union has heard from its Brandon members that there is increased violence in the emergency department of the hospital. Jackson said across the province, the violence is usually related to someone being under the influence of substances, but wait times that have grown longer have also created an atmosphere of tensions run- ning high. “If you’re sitting in the emergency department for 14 hours waiting to see a doctor, tempers get short,” Jack- son said. “So, we’re just starting to see things happening that we wouldn’t have seen probably 10 years ago, but with the state of our healthcare system we’re seeing [them].” Still, the union president said that because the safety officers have more powers and some policing ability, that they will be able to deal with situa- tions more effectively than security guards can. And because it’s difficult for the union to track violent incidences against its members in a large facility because of the structure of the report- ing system, Jackson hopes that the reports of safety officers will provide helpful data. “I’m hoping that this will actually give us a more detailed idea of what’s happening and where we’re seeing the violence and what it is,” she said. Meanwhile, a Shared Health spokes- person said that the initial hires for the Brandon hospital will participate in training session in May and June. Shared Health also added that the safety officers have security guard li- censing but with additional training for health-care environments. The officers will be able accept a mental health pa- tient from police and “secure and pro- tect them” until seen by health-care professionals. While Shared Health did not specific- ally address question about whether the 16 safety officers are in addition to the existing security guards, the provincial health authority said that they expect many people already working as part of the hospital’s security staff to apply for safety officer positions. “While the overall complement of security team members is expected to remain constant, the enhanced training and authority of ISOs will improve the safety of staff, patients and visitors at BRHC,” the statement said. More than 100 ISOs positions will be filled, with successful candidates who have completed training and testing posted at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, St. Boniface Hospital, Victoria General Hospital, Brandon Regional Health Centre and Selkirk Mental Health Centre. — Brandon Sun GEENA MORTFIELD MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe ;