A Vancouver man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of multiple charges relating to a break-in purportedly part of a drug debt collection.
John Doe, 37, was convicted on charges of breaking and entering a dwelling with intent to commit robbery, robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, using an imitation firearm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disguising his face with intent to commit an offence.
When Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Laura Bakan heard lawyers’ sentencing submissions Jan. 26, one of the victims addressed the court.
“I am a survivor of your senseless violence,” the crying female victim of a home invasion told Doe.
The woman was one of two people targeted by a masked gang kicking in an East Vancouver door looking for drugs Sept. 23, 2020.
He is the third person to be convicted in the incident.
Crown prosecutor Joanna Medjuck asked for a nine-year sentence while defence lawyer David Ferguson suggested five years.
Broken down, Bakan imposed the following sentence:
• seven years for the break and enter;
• 2.5 years each for the robbery charges;
• four years for possession of a weapon; and,
• three years for wearing a mask in commission of the offences.
Those sentences are to run concurrently for a total of seven years. However, a one-year sentence for use of an imitation firearm will run consecutively for a total of eight years.
The eight-year global sentence will be reduced by 1,417 days to reflect time Doe has spent in custody before sentencing.
Bakan said the injuries the victims sustained are permanent and life-altering, and that the events occurred in the sanctity of their home.
“I hope you can better yourself in custody and reflect on the harm this crime has done,” Bakan said.
The incident
Medjuck told Bakan during submissions that, with another man and a female youth, Doe left downtown Vancouver for the Commercial Drive neighbourhood in a cab, stopping to buy rubber gloves and masks on the way.
They arrived at a house where a man inside heard banging on his door and told whoever it was to go away.
The banging continued so he answered the door, saw a man in a mask and slammed the door.
The door was then kicked in, Medjuck said.
The man was attacked and another person woke up the terrified woman in the next room.
The court heard the man was beaten with a metal object and pistol-whipped.
“Both victims received significant injuries,” Medjuck said. “The violence was extreme. It was gratuitous.”
Both were extremely traumatized, she said.
Medjuck said because the gang was wearing masks, it has been hard to determine who did what.
“He has provided no information on that front,” she said. “He has not revealed his role in the offence and he’s not exhibited any empathy toward the victims.”
Victim impact statement
The female victim, who Glacier Media has chosen not to name, cried as she read a victim impact statement to the court.
“My life has been severely impacted by the atrocities,” she said, explaining she has endured staples, stitches, broken bones and vision loss and, “severe balance issues due to my sinuses being smashed with the butt of a gun.”
“Your cowardice has allowed me to find my inner strength to stop drinking in order to stand in front of you,” she said.
She said she will continue to spend many hours of her life in doctors’ appointments and surgeries as a result of the injuries she suffered.
Doe’s background
Bakan heard Doe was born in the African country of Liberia where, at a young age, he lost his mother and other relatives in the country’s civil war.
His father then smuggled Doe and his sister into Ghana.
Soon after, they came to Canada but, Ferguson told Bakan, Doe had to deal with an aggressive father who was emotionally abusive.
“He didn’t thrive in Canada,” Ferguson said. “He felt racially profiled, targeted in Canada.”
Part of the sentencing was the creation of a race and cultural assessment which detailed Doe's background and the challenges he has faced as a Black man coming to Canada.
Bakan said Doe had been subject to racist abuse at Van Technical Secondary School and in the alternate program at Britannia High School.
Doe has struggled with substance abuse issues, the court heard, using drugs to mask his pain.
The judge said addiction treatment would be a positive part of his incarceration.
The other convicted people
On Jan. 8, Vancouver Provincial Court Judge David St. Pierre sentenced Terry Houngbo-Gody. A former rising B.C. football player who pleaded guilty to eight counts of breaking and entering, robbery and aggravated assault, he was sentenced to four years in prison.
Another person was acquitted while the female youth got a two-year supervision order.
