Digby County man denied bail in $10K lobster extortion case

One of three men charged this week in a $10,000 extortion case linked to the southwest Nova Scotia lobster fishery has been denied bail.

Judge James Burrill ruled Friday that Kevin Eric Langford, 32, should not be released from custody before his trial. Details of the bail hearing in Yarmouth provincial court are banned from publication.

Langford, who lives in Church Point, N.S., was arrested Sunday, along with Zacharie David Thibault, 32, and his father, Eric David Thibault, 65, after police said a man was threatened at his Saulnierville, N.S., home on Jan. 30.

The Thibaults are also in custody. Their bail hearings were put over Friday to later this month at the request of their lawyers.

The three men are charged with threatening to shoot up the alleged victim's home, burn it down and kill his dogs, as well as extortion and intimidation.

Police said earlier this week the complainant, a former fisherman, told officers the accused wrongfully believed he had been speaking out against them, and they blamed him for lost lobster sales.

Police have alleged Langford and Zacharie Thibault went to the home to extort $10,000 from the alleged victim at the instructions of Eric Thibault, who is already facing multiple counts of intimidation related to other cases.

The RCMP commander of the local detachment in Meteghan has said the Thibaults are allegedly a crime family in the area seeking to exploit the lucrative lobster industry.

The allegations have not been tested in court and none of the accused have entered pleas.