A 20-year-old Vancouver man avoided jail time and was instead handed a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community after pleading guilty to punching a North Vancouver bus driver in the head while he was on duty.
Brandon William Night of Vancouver received the sentence after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm in North Vancouver provincial court. According to court documents, Night was drunk on Aug. 17, 2013 when he boarded a bus being driven by Gordon Lapthorne without paying the fare.
When Lapthorne reached the end of his route, Night didn't leave and the driver had to ask that he get off the bus. As the driver was about to start his next route, Night tried to get on the bus again. Lapthorne refused to let him on and offered him a transfer. But eventually, Night pushed his way on to the bus anyway, and punched the driver several times in the head with a closed fist.
Lapthorne eventually managed to push Night back out of the bus.
As a result of the attack, Lapthorne suffered whiplash, lower back pain and extensive bruising and missed two and half months of work. In considering the sentence, Judge Steven Merrick described it as a "significant assault" on someone in a vulnerable position.
Crown prosecutor Adrienne Lee asked for four to six months' jail in the case. Merrick ruled Night should serve his sentence in the community, noting Night was 19 at the time of the offence, had no prior record and an alcohol addiction. He ordered Night to obey a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the first 90 days of his sentence, do 35 hours of community work service and not board any bus driven by his victim.
Night was also banned from drinking during the conditional sentence and will serve one-year probation.
