A Montreal court heard disturbing testimony describing a hostage situation involving a young boy on Wednesday, part of a trial for a man who stands accused of a violent series of home invasions almost a decade ago.
Septimus Neverson faces 54 charges ranging from robbery to murder in 13 different incidents in Montreal and Laval.
A 19-year-old man was called to the stand to testify about a harrowing ordeal in 2009. The then-10-year-old boy was woken in his Cote-Des-Neiges home in July of that year by a loud noise. He found his parents sitting on the floor, with a man holding a gun standing in the doorway.
The man testified that the suspect tried to find cash and jewelry in the family of four’s home and as the suspect tried to leave, he saw a police car outside.
He said the suspect grabbed him by the arm and forced him to follow during an escape. The boy was held hostage until the suspect escaped by climbing a fence.
In 1987, Neverson pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a different case. When he finished his 13-year sentence in 2000, he was deported from Canada to his native Trinidad and Tobago. He returned to Canada under a false passport during the same period where the home invasions took place and left in 2009. In 2015, he was arrested in Trinidad and Tobago and extradited to stand trial.
