Trial begins for five accused of burning Grand Manan house

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ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick – Residents formed a human chain to prevent firefighters from extinguishing a blaze at a suspected crack house on New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island, a jury was told Thursday.

The dramatic testimony came as a trial began for five men charged with arson and weapons offenses following a July 22 riot on the remote island near the Maine coast.

The five were charged for what many described as a vigilante attack on a suspected drug house.

Defense lawyer David Lutz didn’t dispute the allegations during opening statements to the jury.

“These people did what they did,” he said. “But the issue is why they did what they did that night.

“They acted out of fears for their lives and their community. … They acted out of necessity.”

Carter Foster, 24, Matthew Lambert, 27, Michael Small, 26, Gregory Guthrie, 26, and Lloyd Bainbridge, 31, all of Grand Manan, are facing charges that include arson and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.

Jim McAvity, the Crown prosecutor, said he’ll call witnesses who will describe how people were attacked, how the home of Ronald Ross was burned, and how some tried to block efforts to extinguish the flames.

Two Mounties were the first to testify, including Constable Gerald Bigger, who told the jury there had been a rumor that 20 people from off the island were coming to burn homes on Grand Manan.

Bigger said he spoke with Carter Foster, who lived across the street from Ross, shortly after midnight that night and told him the rumor wasn’t true.

He said Foster replied: “If they start something, we’re going to finish it.”

A short time later, police were called back to the same location, where a crowd had gathered, and a small fire was burning in a shed at the Ross home.

Bigger said there was a lot of shouting and he called for backup after learning that shots had been fired.

The jury was shown pictures of bullet holes and shattered windows in a gray truck that was parked in Ross’ driveway.

Cpl. Ronald Smith testified that a crowd of about 40 people – some of them wielding baseball bats – were yelling, “Get off the island,” and taunting about seven people in and around the Ross home, a small, rundown house that was missing glass from many of its windows.

Smith said some people were shouting, “We want the crack dealer off the island.”

“It was chaos,” he told the court.

Smith testified that as police were beginning to restore some control, they heard a loud bang and saw flames shooting up the back of the Ross home.

As police and firefighters battled the flames, the crowd began throwing rocks and attacking people as they fled the burning home.

“Things went from bad to worse,” he said. “We had no control at all.”

When asked by McAvity if he thought someone was going to die, Smith replied: “Yes, I did.”

Police managed to get the people from the Ross home into vehicles and take them to the ferry to leave the island.

The fire was contained to the back of the home and extinguished. Police left the scene around 4:40 a.m., but only got a short distance up the street when they heard chants of, “Burn, burn.”

They returned to find the home engulfed in flames, and people warning that the house was full of gasoline.

He said some people even formed a human chain across the road in an effort to prevent the firetrucks from returning.

The home was destroyed.

Residents have long complained of a drug problem on the island.

About 700 people attended a public meeting with police in August to express their concerns, particularly with the perception that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police weren’t doing enough to put an end to the illegal drug trade, especially crack cocaine.

Signs posted on the island described the five people charged as heroes.

The trial is expected to take at least two weeks.