Thug who used ‘horrifying array of weaponry’ to torture elderly man he met on Grindr jailed
The dating and hook-up app Grindr. (AFP via Getty/ CHRIS DELMAS)
A man who helped his brother lure an elderly Grindr user and tortured him for hours has been handed a prison sentence, but could walk free in a year.
In February 2020, Charlie Caire created a fake profile on the dating app Grindr to lure his elderly victim, who at the time he believed was guilty of assaulting his friend, back to his brother’s house in Murray Bridge, South Australia.
With the help of his brother, Brett Caire, Charlie tortured the man for hours with a “horrifying array of weaponry”, including an electric drill, a taser, a gaslighter, a pair of secateurs and a knife, and even injected him with a syringe while declaring it “contained AIDS”.
With Charlie having already been sentenced, this week the Adelaide District Court sentenced Brett, who previously pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including false imprisonment, aggravated blackmail and aggravated assault.
According to ABC News, the court heard that Brett awoke to find his brother had tied up and blindfolded the elderly Grindr user, and decided to join in on the hours of torture when he was told that he could financially benefit.
Judge Liesl Chapman said the suspicion that the victim had assaulted their friend in no way excused the “vigilante justice, but said Brett has “lesser” moral culpability than his brother Charlie.
She noted that Brett had been physically and emotionally abused by the brothers’ mother, and, citing a psychologist’s report which stated that he had several mental health and addiction problems, said he had a tendency to want to “please others”.
Chapman sentenced him to five years, two months and 22 days in prison for his role in the horrific crimes, and denied a request from his lawyers for him to serve the sentence from home.
However, she said he would benefit from a short non-parole period of two years and seven months.
Having been in custody since the crimes took place, Brett Caire could walk free on parole in just over a year.
Charlie Caire was allowed to walk free on a suspended sentence after torturing the elderly Grindr user
In April this year Charlie Caire, who lured the elderly Grindr user and suggested his brother Brett help him torture the victim for hours, was allowed to walk free on a suspended sentence.
Charlie’s defence sought to paint the him as a troubled man who overcame adversity – childhood abuse, losing a job, a break-up and the death of his father.
Judge Liesl Chapman appeared to agree with this description, describing the criminal as “remarkable”, and adding: “You have shown courage, strength and resilience during a childhood which no child should have to endure.”
Despite his cruel and horrific crimes, Charlie was handed a sentence of five years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of two years and 10 months.
This was backdated to February 2020, when he was taken into custody, with the rest of the sentence suspended, allowing him to walk free.
The judge said she believed the offender to be “truly remorseful”, and told him: “I’m sure you didn’t expect that outcome.”
