(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)
October 03, 2013 - 1:19 PM
KAMLOOPS - A man serving prison time in Kamloops was handed one more year in jail today for stabbing a fellow inmate last year.
Derek Baptiste, 29, was sentenced today after stabbing a fellow inmate multiple times on Sept. 6, 2012 at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre. Baptiste pleaded not guilty to attempted murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of aggravated assault.
"The victim did not instigate an altercation and had no opportunity to defend himself," said B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan.
Defence lawyer Gulpreet Gill told the courts prior to sentencing that the man was an acquaintance of Baptiste, who shot his brother and referred to 'bad blood' between the two.
Donegan acknowledged Baptiste's complicated history.
Baptiste is a member of the Osoyoos Indian Band, born to parents who were victims of residential schools and began his involvement in the criminal justice system when he was 13. He has a Grade 5 education, is a substance abuser and has cognitive limitations including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder.
The defence asked for a one-year sentence to run concurrently with the three-year sentence he was already serving for multiple break and enter convictions. Gill told the judge that additional jail-time could 'warehouse' the relatively young man.
However, Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston asked Donegan to impose a consecutive sentence in order to deter him and other criminals from criminal activity while in prison.
Ultimately, Donegan sided with the Crown.
"I find a concurrent sentence is wholly inappropriate in this case," Donegan said.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013