A North Vancouver man who set his homeless friend on fire with camping fuel, causing third-degree burns to the man's face and body, has been sent to jail for just under two years - in addition to over a year already served in custody - after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
Judge William Rodgers handed the sentence to Brian Kenneth Pert, 36, in provincial court Monday.
Pert was originally charged with attempted murder of Russell Rozel, but pleaded guilty to the less serious charge Dec. 16 following a preliminary hearing in North Vancouver provincial court.
Rozel suffered serious injuries, including extensive painful scarring and partial loss of vision in one eye, as a result of the attack.
During the hearing, Crown prosecutor Michelle Peacock described how three men including Pert, Rozel and a third man, Michael Smith, used to hang out together at the North Vancouver bottle depot.
But on Aug. 4, 2012, Pert and Rozel had a disagreement after the two men had been drinking.
Pert went to a piece of land between the highway and the Holiday Inn in North Vancouver where Rozel had been camping out, and the two men got into an altercation.
In court, Smith testified that he had arranged to meet Rozel at the camp, known as the "grassy knoll," after the pair finished at the bottle depot.
But when Smith arrived on his bicycle, he saw Pert and Rozel facing off on the grass.
Smith said as he got closer, he noticed Pert dousing Rozel with some kind of liquid. Right afterwards "I saw a flame go across," he told the judge.
"He just went up so quick. .. poof."
Smith said he ran to Rozel as fast as he could and rolled him on the dry grass, trying to put the fire out.
People driving by saw what was happening and ran over to help, bringing bags of ice from the nearby hotel.
"We rolled him over and his back was melted," said Smith. "Most of the clothing from the waist up burned."
Rozel was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital where he spent seven weeks in the burn unit. For the first weeks in hospital, he could barely move and endured painful treatment for his burns. After he was discharged, Rozel suffered for several more months, said Peacock, including having to sleep with bandages or risk having his skin peel off.
In an interview with the prosecutor done for a victim impact statement, Rozel said he used to walk up and down Lonsdale Avenue at 3 a.m. because he couldn't endure going out in daylight.
"He said he felt like he had bugs crawling under his skin," said Peacock.
Rozel told police he had no idea why Pert "lit him up."
In a report done for the court, a psychiatrist said Pert was under the influence of both alcohol and crack cocaine and thought he was owed money on the day he went to Rozel's camp with gas and a lighter.
The psychiatrist noted Pert has a history of firesetting behaviour. After Pert set Rozel on
fire, he quickly fled the scene and didn't stay to see if his friend was alright, said Peacock.
Pert's defence lawyer Greg Delbigio said Pert isn't homeless and has a supportive family, but has been marginalized for mental illness. He urged the judge to consider a more lenient sentence in light of Pert's mental health problems.
But Rodgers rejected that, noting the psychiatrist's report indicated drug and alcohol abuse - rather than a psychotic disorder - were the main contributors to Pert's offence.
In addition to the jail term, Rodgers put Pert on two years' probation, including orders to take counselling, stay away from Rozel, Smith and the North Vancouver bottle depot and not to go outside his residence if he's been drinking.
