Fourth GTA man accused of kidnapping, attempted murder granted $250K bail

A fourth man has been released on bail amid serious charges in a kidnapping and attempted murder case.

Four of five men from the Greater Toronto Area accused of attempted murder and kidnapping following the discovery of a bound and brutally beaten Mississauga man at an abandoned Orillia gas station in late September have been granted bail.

Manraj Mann, 31, of Brampton, Ont. was bailed out by three loved ones who pledged a total of $250,000 under strict conditions, including house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor under around-the-clock supervision.

Mann, who is represented by Toronto defence lawyer Peter Thorning, was granted bail by Justice Laura Bird Wednesday afternoon. The Barrie judge told Mann, “This is as tight a bail as can be fashioned,” before explaining that his three sureties will act as his jailers and serve as the “eyes of the justice system in the community.”

Mann’s release plan is nearly identical to the conditions imposed by Justice Susan Healey on his co-accused, Surjit Singh Bains, during a separate bail review on Monday.

The 63-year-old from Woodbridge, Ont. was bailed out by his sons and wife following a bail review two months after Bains was denied bail by a justice of the peace. Mann had also been previously denied bail by a justice of the peace.

Their co-accused, Baltej Sandhu, 30, of Brampton, was the first man granted bail on a quarter-million-dollar pledge with around-the-clock supervision by three sureties in October.

Another Brampton, Ont., man, Dwayne Pennant, 41, was bailed out by three loved ones who pledged $125,000 in November. He will also be under house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.

The only man still behind bars is Gergy Anthony Gorburn. The 51-year-old from Toronto has a lengthy criminal record, according to court documents obtained by CTV News that describe more than a dozen arrests over 25 years.

Police said in late September, the five men were arrested inside an abandoned downtown Orillia gas station, where investigators discovered a Mississauga man bound and brutally beaten following reports of a suspicious vehicle and masked men at the corner of Peter and Colborne streets.

All five men are accused of attempted murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement, breaking and entering, and weapons charges.

A publication ban protects any evidence heard in court from being revealed.

The four men released from jail return to an Orillia courtroom in January; Gorburn is scheduled to make his next appearance in a week from jail at Central North Correctional Centre. The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.