KENTVILLE, NS - A Greenwood man accused in a targeted assault and robbery in Kentville has pleaded guilty to several charges and will be back in court in April for sentencing.
Franklin Dale McKay, 29, was present in Kentville provincial court in custody on March 27. He pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and aggravated assault stemming from what the Kentville Police Service described as a targeted assault and robbery that occurred in the town on Jan. 4. The matters have been adjourned to April 5 for sentencing.
Charges of having his face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence; break, enter and theft, uttering a threat to cause bodily harm or death and stealing property of a value not exceeding $5,000 have been adjourned to April 5 for disposition.
Two co-accused, Stephen Ryan McKay, 22, also of Greenwood, and Bryce Douglas Brooks, 23, of Glooscap First Nation, have yet to enter pleas to the charges.
On Jan. 4, the Kentville Police Service received a complaint from a man that he had been assaulted and bound with tape at his Academy Street residence in Kentville.
The man alleges that at approximately 5 a.m., three individuals – two wearing masks – entered the victim’s home and assaulted him. They then allegedly took property and fled the scene. Police were notified of the incident after neighbours took the victim to hospital. The victim was treated and later released.
In an earlier interview, Insp. Darryl Brown of the Kentville Police Service said police believe that Franklin McKay arrived at the scene together with the other two suspects and it appears that the incident was planned. Those involved are known to one another and police believe that the assault and robbery were targeted.
The court granted a Crown request for a public interest arrest warrant for McKay, who was still at large, on Feb. 13. He was arrested the following week in Leduc, Alberta, before being transported back to Nova Scotia.
Click here for the initial story on the alleged targeted robbery.
Click here for a story on the arrests of two of the suspects.
Click here for a story on the court granting a public interest arrest warrant.
Human trafficking charges
McKay is also charged with alleged human trafficking related offences. These include recruiting, transporting and exercising control and direction over the movements of an individual for the purpose of exploiting her; receiving a financial benefit from human trafficking, withholding a document – the alleged victim’s driver’s licence – for the purpose of committing an offence and receiving a material benefit from sexual services.
It’s alleged that McKay committed these offences in Greenwood between Jan. 1, 2015, and Jan. 4, 2018. McKay has yet to enter pleas to these counts, which have not been proven in court. They have been adjourned to April 5 for election and plea.
Guilty pleas to other charges
McKay pleaded guilty to being at large within Canada before the expiration of a term of imprisonment in Dartmouth between Dec. 29, 2017, and Jan. 15, 2018; and to a charge of unlawfully possessing not in excess of 30 grams of cannabis marijuana in Dartmouth on Dec. 1, 2017. These matters have been adjourned to April 5 for sentencing. A second count of being at large has been adjourned for disposition.
McKay also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving; driving while disqualified, failing to stop his vehicle as soon as was reasonable in the circumstances in order to evade police, failing to comply with a demand made to him by a police officer to provide samples of his breath for analysis to determine the concentration, if any, of alcohol in his blood and failing to comply with his undertaking.
McKay committed these offences in Waterville on Oct. 19, 2017. These matters have been adjourned to April 5 for sentencing. Two more counts of failing to comply with his undertaking and driving without insurance have been adjourned to April 5 for disposition.
