National

Defence in Todd case now seeks 2-year sentence

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 13 Oct, 2022 12:29 PM

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. - A defence lawyer for a man convicted of luring and sexually exploiting British Columbia teen Amanda Todd says a six-year sentence he originally asked for should be reduced to two years.

Joseph Saulnier told a sentencing hearing in B.C. Supreme Court that his client is already serving an 11-year sentence for similar offences against 33 young victims in the Netherlands and more prison time would be "unduly harsh."

Saulnier is now seeking a two-year term to be served after Aydin Coban's Dutch sentence is completed in August 2024, and says the Canadian sentence would be for the same course of wrongful conduct.

Justice Martha Devlin questioned Saulnier's reasoning several times, saying she is not bound by the Dutch regime and suggesting that the offences against Todd are a separate matter.

Coban was extradited to Canada to face a trial in the Todd case and is serving his Dutch sentence at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, Todd's hometown.

Crown attorney Louise Kenworthy has asked for a 12-year sentence to be served after the completion of Coban's Dutch term, saying he tormented Todd online for over two years and that his conduct was a dominant factor in her suicide at age 15.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Family wants Walker extradited from U.S. to Canada

Dawn Walker, 48, is facing two charges in Oregon related to identity fraud along with two charges in Saskatoon of child abduction and public mischief. She was arrested Friday when she and her seven-year-old son were found in Oregon City, Ore., after a two-week search.

Family wants Walker extradited from U.S. to Canada

Cool weather brings some B.C. fires under control

Crews are making progress on several wildfires in the province, including a blaze near Lytton that broke out nearly a month ago and destroyed several properties. But BC Wildfire Service information officer Mikhail Elsay told a news conference Wednesday that crews are still having a difficult fight with the 68-square-kilometre fire southwest of Penticton in the Okanagan.

Cool weather brings some B.C. fires under control

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

Plan International Canada says it has seen a worrying increase in the number of teenage girls in the developing world being forced into marriage because their families cannot afford to feed them. The agency says 12 million girls under the age of 18 become child brides each year, forcing them to abandon school while putting their health at risk through early pregnancies.

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

A report from the service on deaths says the fatalities happened between July 26 and Aug. 3, although the numbers are considered preliminary until investigations into each case conclude. The report shows all but two of the deaths happened in the Interior or Fraser health regions and involved victims aged 40 to over 90, with six in their 70s.

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

The job cuts, expected to take place over the fourth quarter, come as the company permanently cuts about 170 million board feet of combined production at its Fraser Lake and Williams Lake sawmills and about 85 million square feet of plywood production at its Quesnel operation.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

B.C. fund cuts plastic pollution: minister

Environment Minister George Heyman says the province is a North American leader in plastic recycling and the government's CleanBC Plastic Action Fund is looking for more innovations to cut plastic pollution.