A man serving time for playing a key role in a near-fatal swarming attack has some work to do before he will be granted day parole.
A parole board panel rejected this month Hayden Lee Alwood's bid for the privilege, in part finding his behaviour during a recent confrontation with a fellow inmate shows he continues to be "quite volatile."
Alwood, 23, was sentenced in April 2016 to a further three years and three months in federal prison for the January 2013 attack that left one of the victims with a brain injury and ongoing anxiety.
While co-accused Mercedes Rae Jewett, who was sentenced to a further three years and seven months, was found to be the ringleader, Alwood provided the muscle.
The victim was was one of two suspected of sneaking into Jewett's bedroom and sexually assaulting her and a friend while they slept - an allegation a judge found completely baseless.
The court found Alwood pulled the victim's pants down before he was sodomized several times with mop handle. Others then repeatedly kicked the victim in the head and hit him with a frying pan.
Then he was dragged, unconscious, and dumped a snow bank behind an apartment building in the 1600 block of Juniper Street near Connaught Hill Park. Police were called and the assailants told police they had located the victim by happenstance. But a cellphone showing a video of the assault was seized.
During an interview with the panel, Alwood expressed remorse for his actions.
"You noted that you never did think about stopping the events that transpired, largely out of loyalty, and you did not think about pulling the second victim's pants down; you just did it," the panel said in a decision. "You expressed that today when you think about the offence, you feel disgusted for having done so."
Alwood's case management team had recommended he be given day parole, saying he had completed recommended programming and had a viable release plan. But a conflict with another inmate over use of a computer - Alwood punched a door on the way out of the room - raised alarm bells for the panel.
An interview with Alwood also left the panel with doubts, concluding he still had difficulty understanding the links between his recent behaviour and those of the offence for which he was sentenced.
"More work is required for you to show consistency in your emotions and addressing conflict in a constructive way," the panel said.
Jewett was granted day parole in June 2017.
