R. v. G.S.G. Date:, 2011 BCPC 152

Citation: R. v. G.S.G. Date: 20110510 2011 BCPC 0152 File No: 74314-1, 74763-1 Registry: Abbotsford IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. G.S.G. REASONS FOR SENTENCE OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE R.B. CARYER Counsel for the Crown: S. Quendack Counsel for the Accused: E. Warren Place of Hearing: Abbotsford , B.C. Date of Hearing: May 10, 2011 Date of Judgment: May 10, 2011 [ 1 ] THE COURT : You are fortunate that you are not looking at life imprisonment. This behaviour could well have resulted in Mr. Boyd's death, and you may well have been found guilty of second degree murder.

With your history you might have got even more than ten years before you would be eligible for parole, so the Crown's position on sentence, quite frankly, in my respectful opinion is low. [ 2 ] Your background is one that gives me concern. Your behaviour in this incident is atrocious. It is so extremely violent and mean-spirited that it makes me think you are a very dangerous human being, and unless you get a handle on why you do those things, you will be back here. But unfortunately somebody else will be victimized before that happens.

So, somehow you have got to get a handle on it because you will end up spending the rest of your life in jail. I doubt that the Parole Board would give you parole if you were given a life sentence, looking at your record. That is something you need to think about [ 3 ] The accused has pled guilty to an aggravated assault of one Stephen Boyd on the 22nd of August 2010.

He has also pled guilty to possessing a restricted firearm on October the 3rd, 2010. [ 4 ] The circumstances of the possession of the firearm apparently are that in an emotional depressive reaction to the assault he meted out on the innocent victim in August, G.S.G. contemplated suicide and found a way to get a gun. He was contemplating shooting himself and fired the gun off which prompted the attention of the police and he was arrested. In and of itself, that offence calls for a minimum mandatory penalty of three years imprisonment.

[ 5 ] I will go back in time to two months or so before, less than two months before. G.S.G. was in Finnegan's Pub with some friends who became engaged in some sort of a confrontation with another group of people, one of whom was Mr. Boyd. The confrontation was not with Mr. Boyd and it was not with G.S.G., it was with two of the other parties. One of the parties of Mr. Boyd's group left. [ 6 ] There then became a confrontation between the members of G.S.G.’s party and Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd was unarmed. Mr.

Boyd was attacked by three people, three males, one very big, powerful male, one medium-sized, G.S.G., and one smaller male. G.S.G. pulled a knife and stabbed Mr. Boyd twice and slashed him once in the bicep, requiring sutures. The stab wounds, one in his chest and one in his abdomen, required emergency surgery. Mr. Boyd was fortunate to have survived. He was at death's door. [ 7 ] While he was unconscious and unresponsive on the ground, G.S.G. and the others kicked and stomped Mr. Boyd, stomped him on the head, resulting in a severe concussion. Again, Mr.

Boyd is fortunate that he did not die, and G.S.G.is subsequently fortunate that he is not facing a life-imprisonment sentence. This was done in a public place, I presume somewhere near or around closing time at 1:30 or thereabouts in the morning, in front of many witnesses. [ 8 ] It is hard for the court to comprehend the level of violence and aggression meted out on Mr. Boyd, an innocent, defenceless human being, by three people who appeared to be completely reckless with respect to Mr.

Boyd's personal wellbeing. [ 9 ] The three individuals left the scene, fled the scene, were stopped in a vehicle shortly thereafter, and were arrested. G.S.G. fit the description of the medium-sized individual, even down to his clothing and a splint on his finger, which is odd to get involved in a fight when you have a splint on your finger. I suppose if you pull a knife you don't have to worry about the splint on your finger. He was observed stabbing Mr. Boyd. He was observed kicking him and punching him and stomping him in the head.

This level of violence is astonishing. [ 10 ] G.S.G. has prior convictions for assaultive behaviour. When he was a youth in 1994 he has a conviction for two charges of assault, and in 1995, a robbery conviction. He has numerous convictions after that as an adult. He has a conviction in 2003 for unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon for which he received seven days in jail and 12 months probation, as well as uttering threats for which he received a 60-day jail term. In July of 2004 he was convicted of assault and uttering threats and received 40 days in jail and one year probation.

In July of 2005, one year later, he was convicted of assault with a weapon and received 30 days and six months pre-sentence custody. He has subsequent convictions for driving offences and one escape when he was under arrest at a party and fled the police in 2010. It is his violent history that causes me grave concern. [ 11 ] There is, of course, a minimum penalty of three years, so that is where we start. The Crown has suggested that G.S.G. will receive a global sentence somewhere in the range of four to five years. Mr.

Quendack told the court that he was of the view the aggravated assault would call for a penalty of one to two years, and he is suggesting a total global sentence of time served plus four years. [ 12 ] Mr. Warren, on behalf of G.S.G. has explained that G.S.G. has an alcohol-abuse problem, lost his father when he was young, and after this horrific assault on Mr. Boyd, became significantly depressed and indeed suicidal. Mr.

Warren has suggested that given the current situation in the prisons that the court could and should consider imposing one-and-a-half-times time served and making it a total of four years less that time, in other words, less ten-and-a-half months. [ 13 ] I am of the view in this case that a sentence of five years would be an appropriate jail sentence for G.S.G. Quite frankly, I could go higher.

In my respectful opinion, this assault and subsequent possession of a very serious weapon would call for a sentence in the range of seven to eight years. [ 14 ] With respect to Information 74763-1, I am ordering that G.S.G. provide a sample of his body fluids for the purposes of the DNA databank. [ 15 ] With respect to Information 74314-1, this is the firearms, I am prohibiting him from possessing any firearms, ammunition, explosive devices and the like, including acquisition certificates as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada , for the rest of his life. [ 16 ] On the aggravated assault, 74763, I sentence G.S.G. to a period of imprisonment of four years. [ 17 ] On Information 74314, taking into account the seven months G.S.G. has served in custody awaiting disposition of these matters, I sentence him to a further 2.3 years as required by the Criminal Code of Canada , to be served concurrent to any other sentence you are serving, so what I have done is I have given you a four-year jail term. [ 18 ] The victim surcharge, of course, will be waived in the circumstances of this case. [ 19 ] Anything else, Mr.

Quendack? [ 20 ] MR. QUENDACK: No, Your Honour, thank you. [ 21 ] THE COURT: The firearms, the bullets, anything related that is illegal and restricted, including the brass knuckles, are forfeited to the Crown for destruction. [ 22 ] MR. QUENDACK: Thank you, Your Honour. [ 23 ] THE COURT: You have some time now to devote yourself to getting yourself healthy and better, sir. There are programs in the institutions that will assist you in readjusting to life and dealing with the issues that you obviously have. [ 24 ] Thank you, Mr. Warren. [ 25 ] MR. WARREN: Thank you, Your Honour.

[ 26 ] THE CLERK: Outstanding counts, Your Honour? [ 27 ] MR. QUENDACK: Crown is directing a stay of proceedings on those, Madam Registrar. _______________________ R.B. Caryer Provincial Court Judge