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Kamloops News

Judge acquits dealer accused of extortion

KAMLOOPS – Attendees looking to sit in the gallery of room 5C at Kamloops Supreme Court had to undergo a bag search and scan before hearing Justice Hope Hyslop acquit Trevor Taylor, born in 1985, of his charges.

Taylor - who Hyslop acknowledged as a drug dealer - was accused of robbery, extortion and using an imitation firearm to obtain a fellow dealer’s truck in October 2013. It was alleged the man owed a drug debt to Taylor.

Jody Honeyman, born in 1973, said Taylor asked to borrow his truck under pressure to pay off his debt. He accused Taylor of punching him in the head, burning his pants with a camping torch and waving a gun around.

After loaning his truck to Taylor, Honeyman said his sister and mother pressured him to report the truck stolen because he would be responsible for any damages should Taylor get into an accident.

He reported the truck as stolen but did not tell police why he made the report. Honeyman said he had evidence of his injuries but no proof or photos were submitted in court.

When it came to trusting the complainant’s evidence, Hyslop said she believed “very little” of it and was not impressed by the man’s “cavalier attitude” or the “silly remarks” made by him on the stand.

Hyslop said she was more convinced of the man loaning his truck to Taylor, rather than a use of force to acquire it. But she wasn’t sold on Taylor’s evidence, either.

“I do not think I was told the whole truth by Mr. Taylor,” she said.

Taylor was acquitted of all charges. He remains in custody for separate charges in relation to a shooting at a mall in Burnaby.

To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infotelnews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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