Grand Hotel sued by woman paralyzed in Jonathan Bacon shooting

Leah Hadden-Watts filed a lawsuit against the alleged shooters and the Delta Grand Hotel on the anniversary of a gangland shooting in Kelowna.

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August 18, 2013 - 4:34 PM

WOMAN WAS WITH THREE NOTORIOUS GANGSTERS WHEN SHOT

KELOWNA - One of the women shot inside Jonathan Bacon's Porsche Cayenne two years ago is now suing the Delta Grand Hotel because it didn't "assure her safety" while she was on vacation with three high-profile B.C. gangsters.

Leah Hadden-Watts, 23, was left a paraplegic when she was shot by the same three men who opened fire with automatic weapons on Bacon's truck on Aug. 14, 2011—exactly two years ago.

In her suit, filed in Kelowna Supreme Court Aug. 14, 2013, she claims she was at increased risk by being at the casino because of a "predictable presence of criminality and gang members who regularly frequent casinos.”

In her statement of claim, Hadden-Watts says she was on vacation in and around the casino with her "acquaintances"—her friend Lyndsey Black, Independent Soldier James Riach, Hells Angel Larry Amero as well as Bacon, then the leader of the Red Scorpions.

"Unbeknownst to the plaintiff," her claim says. "One or more of her acquaintances were involved in gang related activities."

According to the CBC, Hadden-Watts is also the niece of a prominent B.C. member of the Hells Angels, Mike “Spike” Hadden. The group of five who were later shot were seen on Okanagan Lake in a powerboat named Steroids & Silicone, CBC said.

Hadden-Watts is suing the hotel, the casino and the alleged shooters. The plaintiffs are listed as the B.C. Investment Management Corporation, which runs the hotel, and Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited. It also names the three men due to face trial—Jujhar Singh Khun-Kuhn, Michael Kerry Jones and Jason Thomas McBride.

None of the claims have been proven in court. None of the defendants have filed a response. Calls to both the hotel and casino management have not been returned.

The claim says before the shooting, Hadden-Watts was taking courses to be an insurance broker and was taking courses to become a yoga instructor.

She was sitting in the rear middle seat of the Cayenne in the hotel parking lot roundabout when a second SUV pulled up beside and the men inside started shooting.

“One of the bullets fired from the second SUV struck the plaintiff in the neck severing the plaintiffs spinal column," the suit says. "As a direct result of being struck by the bullet the plaintiff has suffered nerve damage which caused paralysis of both the plaintiffs legs, most of her upper torso and partial paralysis of both arms and hands. The plaintiff also continues to suffer ongoing medical complications from being struck by the bullet.”

As a result, Hadden-Watts can’t keep a job and will need special medical attention for the rest of her life. She is looking for damages for pain and suffering, recovery of costs and expenses related to her injury, her future costs of care and the loss of present and future income.

She said Khun-Khun, Jones and McBride found out her "acquaintances" were staying at the hotel and went there "with one or more loaded firearms and a murderous intent."

She said the hotel was negligent because "fail(ed) to employ additional security personnel and failing to install security devices such as closed circuit TV cameras to protect Hotel guests and casino patrons from the increased risk arising from the attached operating casino."

The suit says the casino also failed to warn its guests of the increased risk of criminals being at the casino.

Hadden-Watts claims the alleged shooters were negligent in carelessly discharging one or more firearms in a public location.

To contact the reporter for this story, email halexander@infotelnews.ca or call 250-491-0331.