IT'S OPEN HOUSE FOR DRUG DEALERS, MANY GRAND MANANERS SAY

Verdict In Vigilante Case Unpopular. Four New Brunswick Men Found
Guilty In Torching House Of Suspected Crack Seller

Guilty verdicts against four New Brunswick men involved in a riot on
Grand Manan Island send a message that the island is an "open house"
for drug dealers, a friend of the accused said after the verdicts
came down yesterday.

The four men, along with a fifth who was found not guilty, said they
acted in self-defence when they torched the house of a suspected drug
dealer in July.

They were convicted of an assortment of weapons and arson charges
after a two-week trial in St. Andrews that tested the merits of
self-defence and vigilante justice.

"I think it sends a good message to the drug dealers that it's open
house, because it's for sure the cops aren't going to do anything
about it," said Ken Brown, who called his friends heroes. "They did
us a great justice."

While the defence argued the men were protecting themselves and their
community from a suspected drug dealer who sowed fear in the
community, crown prosecutors maintained the men went too far when
they took the law into their own hands.

"They do not get an exemption from the criminal justice system,"
prosecutor Randy DiPaolo said as the trial concluded.

The four men convicted were Carter Foster, 25, Matthew Lambert, 27,
Michael Small, 27, and Lloyd Bainbridge, 31.

Family and friends gathered in the courtroom sobbed as the verdicts were read.

Foster was found guilty of inappropriate storage of a firearm;
Lambert was convicted of possession of a flare gun for a purpose
dangerous to the public peace; and Small and Bainbridge were found
guilty of arson.

Small and Bainbridge were remanded into custody, and all of the men
will be sentenced on Dec. 4.

Gregory Guthrie, 27, was found not guilty of possession of a firearm
dangerous to the public peace. Lambert and Foster were also acquitted
of the same charge.

Witnesses told the court that some people on the island believed one
of their neighbours, Ronald Ross, was a drug dealer who sold crack
cocaine from his small home.

Ross, 42, admitted to the court that he had used crack, but denied selling it.

Court heard that on the night of July 21, rumours had spread across
the island that Ross and some friends were preparing to burn down
several homes - a story Ross denied in court.

Between 20 and 40 Grand Manan residents later gathered at the home of
one of the accused, Carter Foster, who lived across the street from Ross.

The riot started when the two groups confronted each other in the
darkness. Numerous gunshots were fired from both sides, flares were
hurled at the Ross house, Ross himself was beaten and his house torched.

Despite the gunplay and violence, no one was seriously hurt in the
melee, which tarnished the reputation of the sleepy fishing community
in the Bay of Fundy.

Ross testified he was a victim of gossip, which spread quickly
through the community of 2,600.

"Islanders stick together," he told the court. "If one person doesn't
like you, no one likes you. They gossip and stories get twisted
around. They tell lies to make things better for their own people."

Ross left the island after the riot and now lives in Nova Scotia.

Witnesses at the trial said there was an atmosphere of fear
surrounding Ross and his home.

Defence lawyer David Lutz argued that this pervasive, uneasy feeling
lies at the heart of what happened on the night of the riot.

Lutz said residents believed they had to take a stand against a
corrupt influence in their midst.

He said the riot was the result of an overzealous "mobile neighbourhood watch."

The jury also heard from RCMP Const. Terry Pomeroy, who said police
were in the process of setting up an undercover sting targeting Ross
and other suspected dealers.

Ross's long criminal record was revealed during the trial, and
although there were numerous convictions for assault and theft, there
was none for drug dealing.