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South Okanagan beach attacker to serve two more years behind bars

Thomas Kruger-Allen was sentenced in a Penticton court on Friday
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Thomas Brayden Kruger-Allen was sentenced to (Facebook photo)

In what is a small comfort for the families and victims of Thomas Kruger-Allen’s beach attack, the 23-year old will serve time in jail.

Kruger-Allen will spend five years less than two years and 68 days for time already served.

In June of last year, Kruger-Allen pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of Brad Eliason for the May 3, 2019 beach attack. He also pled guilty to assaulting two other people that night on the beach. He’s facing a fourth charge for sexual assault.

Eliason, 29, was put into an induced coma for several days and a portion of his skull needed to be removed due to brain swelling.

“I’ve lost everything,” Eliason told the courtroom. “I’ve lost my wife, my home, my job.”

When the attacks occurred, Kruger-Allen was out on a bail for an unrelated, unprovoked attack outside the then Mule Club. He also is going to trial in May, charged in a home invasion he allegedly committed while out on bail from the beach attacks.

Kruger-Allen had been scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, March 3, but his defence, James Pennington, introduced an application that his Charter Rights had been breached during the arrest.

The defence argued that RCMP did not have a warrant to enter Kruger-Allen’s residence and that even if the circumstances did not add up to a full breach, that it could be taken into consideration as a mitigating factor for his sentence.

Crown argued that officers did not intend to enter the residence, but had done so after Kruger-Allen refused to exit after being told why he was under arrest.

The Supreme Court Justice also stated that he had found the court-prepared psychiatric report persuasive.

That report stated that Kruger-Allen posed a serious safety concern to the community.

READ MORE: Kruger-Allen poses safety threat to the community if anger not treated – Crown

A trial later this summer will be held for Kruger-Allen for the charges related to the home invasion that occurred in October 2019 while he was out on bail.

More to come.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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