Terror Squad torturer sent to prison for 5 years after attempted pinkie amputation
Dan Zakreski | CBC News | Posted: September 20, 2018 7:44 PM | Last Updated: September 20, 2018
Raylene Sewap pleads guilty to aggravated assault and unlawful confinement
A 21-year-old Terror Squad gang member in Saskatoon who admitted to trying to cut off a woman's pinkie finger with a homemade machete is going to prison.
Raylene Sewap pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and unlawful confinement when she appeared in provincial court Thursday.
"There was a significant amount of violence, with elements of torture," said prosecutor Frank Impey when detailing the facts of what happened July 24.
Impey and defence lawyer Brooke Johnson made a joint sentencing submission of five years, which was accepted by Judge Doug Agnew, with Johnson adding "there is no explanation or context that can make this less horrific."
Impey said it began when the victim went to a house on the 300 block of Avenue S South. He described the property as owned by people with drug addictions who allowed the Terror Squad "to overrun the house."
Impey said one of Sewap's co-accused is a higher-up in the gang and recognized the victim as someone who had left the Terror Squad for another gang. This prompted the six hours of beatings, threats and confinement, he said.
At one point the victim asked for water. Impey said the woman was given water in a dog dish and forced to drink it on the floor.
He said that Sewap initially planned on cutting off the victim's right hand but settled for the pinkie finger. She tried sawing it off with a homemade machete and then struck the finger hard enough to expose the bone.
The victim was eventually allowed to leave.
Brooke Johnson said that Sewap was high on crystal meth at the time, and she said Sewap claimed that no other gang members were present.
Three other co-accused are still before the courts.