MAN JAILED FOR ATTEMPT TO COLLECT DRUG DEBT

AN attempt to collect on an outstanding drug debt was the motivation
for a gunpoint kidnapping in which the victim and his innocent
brother were stuffed in a car trunk.

Joshua Hourie, 22, pleaded guilty to his role in the January 2006
attack and was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison under a joint
recommendation from Crown and defence lawyers.

A co-accused remains before the courts.

Hourie felt he was owed about $1,000 from the victim -- a local drug
dealer -- and set up a meeting that quickly turned violent, court was told.

The victim arrived with $100 in crack cocaine for Hourie and was
immediately forced into a vehicle with a sawed-off shotgun that was
pressed against his neck.

Hourie and a second masked man then forced him to drive to his Fort
Garry home, where they began looting through several bedrooms looking
for other drugs, cash or property they could grab.

They also sliced the webbing of his fingers, creating a small but
very painful cut that eventually required several stitches, court was told.

Unfortunately, the victim's younger brother woke up and suddenly
found himself in the middle of the melee. He has absolutely no
criminal connections and was an innocent victim.

He was forced to his knees at gunpoint, then eventually taken out of
his home and stuffed in the trunk of the car along with the intended
victim. Their mother and father were asleep in the basement and not
aware of what was going on upstairs.

The brother managed to pry open the trunk and flee to safety when
they stopped at a red light in the downtown area, court was told. He
immediately called police.

The victim wasn't so lucky and was held a short while longer until
Hourie and the other men fled the scene.

Hourie is a former Winnipeg street gang member who has made a clean
break and now wants to focus on his girlfriend and two children, aged
six and one, his lawyer said.

Hourie has spent the past 20 months in custody without bail.

He pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping with a firearm and robbery
with a firearm, which both carry mandatory minimum four-year prison
sentences with a maximum of life behind bars.

Hourie was given double-time credit of 40 months Tuesday, followed by
another 32 months behind bars.