Man sentenced to 7 years in killing of La Ronge businessman

One of the three individuals charged in the death of La Ronge restaurant owner Simon Grant will serve seven years behind bars.

Austin Bird, 18, was initially charged with second-degree murder in Grant’s death, but pleaded guilty last month to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Grant was killed after an armed robbery at Louisiana’s Bar-B-Que in April, when RCMP said three masked men entered after hours with baseball bats and handguns. The 64-year-old was assaulted and later airlifted to Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital where he died of his injuries.

Bird was charged two weeks later along with two youths, aged 17 and 14. Matthew Nagy-Charles, 18, was later charged as an accessory after the fact.

Crown prosecutor Greg Lyndon said many details of the case are still protected by publication ban, and he could not provide details of the case beyond the duration of the sentence.

The two youths facing murder charges in connection with Grant’s death are scheduled to appear in court in November and January.