AN Abbotsford home invader who forced his way into a West Vancouver home, tied up the occupant with zap straps and threatened him with what looked like a handgun has been sent to jail for five years by a North Vancouver judge.
Judge Joanne Challenger handed the sentence to Richard Wayne Heino - also known as Richard Wenlock - 24, on Thursday, after Heino pleaded guilty to robbery and use of an imitation gun to commit a crime.
The frightening - and apparently random - home invasion happened on the afternoon of Oct. 28, 2012, when Heino and an accomplice rang the doorbell of a home on Haywood Avenue.
A young man who lived there in the basement suite of his parents' house came outside to find Heino and a second man handing out real estate pamphlets. But the resident became suspicious when he saw the second man attempting to conceal zap straps under his jacket.
The young man walked back inside his home and called the police to report the pair. As he was hanging up the phone, Heino and the second man charged into the suite, with Heino brandishing what appeared to be a handgun, said Crown counsel Kristin Bryson. The second man held a 10-inch knife.
As they ran in, Heino "attempted to pull back the slide of what appeared to be a gun. The gun jammed," said Bryson.
The pair forced the resident to sit on the floor and the second man bound his wrists with zap straps while Heino worked at unjamming the fake gun, said Bryson.
"The victim was able to hear the bullets from the gun being dropped on the counter," she said.
Heino then began to ransack the suite, demanding to know where he could find money, drugs or a safe, said Bryson.
When he couldn't open the locked door to the upper part of the house, Heino broke the door down and went upstairs.
Eventually Heino and his accomplice made off with a phone, camera and about $300 cash.
Bryson said the home invasion did not appear to be targeted. The victim didn't know either Heino or his accomplice, she said, and neighbours had phoned police earlier to report two suspicious men lurking about.
Heino was arrested several months later after the victim picked him out of a police photo line-up.
Bryson noted Heino has a lengthy criminal record, including 32 convictions. He was on parole for a previous robbery when he committed the home invasion.
Heino's defence lawyer said his client took responsibility for his actions. "He's not here to drag things out or proclaim his innocence," he said.
He noted Heino had a difficult childhood, was bounced through a number of foster homes, and started using crystal meth by the time he was 16.
Heino's mother and girlfriend were both in court for the sentencing.
"I love you," he told them before he was led away by sheriffs. "I wish I could turn back time."
