BY KEITH LACEY
[email protected]
A local woman testified she was in so much pain "she couldn't even walk" during a plan two men forced on her to try and smuggle illicit narcotics inside her body into the Sudbury District Jail in early 2005.
Brad Burleigh, 36, and Raymond Paquette, 25, are on trial before an eight-man, four-woman jury after being charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and numerous drug trafficking counts.
Justice Patricia Hennessy ordered a publication ban on any evidence that could identify the 26-year-old complainant, who testified behind a screen so she didn't have any eye contact with both accused Wednesday.
Hennessy told the jury the screen was being used simply to make the witness more comfortable and they were not to draw any inferences from the screen being used.
The woman testified she started using drugs as a young teenager and became an addict to cocaine and crack cocaine about 18 months ago.
She admitted she had been in and out of jail numerous times because of her addiction.
She was in the female range inside the jail the first week of January, 2005, when she came into contact with another female inmate, who she believed to be the girlfriend of Burleigh, she testified.
"We talked about getting drugs inside the jail," she testified.
She knew the plan would involve placing drugs inside body cavities, and would involve Burleigh, she testified.
After getting out on bail to live with her mother, the woman testified she set up a meeting with Burleigh, who she knew on the street, about 10 days after getting released.
The plan involved placing the drugs inside her body, then going to the police station to have her bail revoked so she would be placed back into custody, she testified.
On Jan. 6, 2005, she, Burleigh and Paquette rented a room at a local hotel and started smoking crack cocaine, which was followed by more talk about the plan to place drugs inside her body to get inside the jail, she said.
She saw five or six packages of drugs and Paquette started inserting them inside her, but it hurt immediately and she wanted to stop, she said.
"It was hurting . . . Ray told me to get on all fours and started putting them in," she said. "I told him to stop because it was hurting . . . he said we have to do it anyway."
Even though she continued to complain about intense pain, Paquette inserted several packages, she said.
"It hurt really bad...it felt like my body was being violated," she testified.
After several packages were inserted, she was in so much pain she couldn't walk, she said.
Burleigh was with her when she entered the police station attempting to revoke her bail, she said.
Burleigh was in the lobby of the police station when she quietly told a police officer she needed assistance and told her about drugs being placed inside her, she said.
"I asked the officer to help me . . . I couldn't walk," she said.
She started crying when telling the officer about what had happened and went to the washroom, where the drugs were removed, she said.
"I was bleeding a lot and I couldn't walk very well," she said.
She was sent to the hospital and was observed by a doctor, but didn't need surgery or stitches, she said.
She was "depressed and suicidal" for days following this incident and is still traumatized by what happened, she testified.
Earlier testimony revealed officers from the Greater Sudbury
Police conducted surveillance of the hotel in question and Burleigh
and Paquette were arrested.
They have been in custody at the local jail for more than a year
awaiting trial.
The trial continues and is expected to wrap up late next week.
