Supreme Court
BOBBITT: Dangerous offender hearing to resume in October
PENTICTON - The dangerous offender hearing and sentencing of David Bobbitt will continue next month. Bobbitt pleaded guilty last year to seven charges, including unlawful confinement, and sexual and aggravated assault in relation to a 2011 incident when he confined a 22-year-old woman and her toddler in his second-hand store, sexually assaulted the woman and...
Vernon judge comes down hard on missionary’s ‘corrective’ child beatings
“WHEN CONDUCT BASED ON RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS CONTRARY WITH THE CRIMINAL CODE OF CANADA, THE CRIMINAL CODE MUST PREVAIL”: JUDGE VERNON - He said he punished his kids so they would never find themselves tangled up in the criminal justice system, like he is now. The 42-year-old, who met his wife while doing missionary work...
Father acquitted in allegations of sexually abusing daughter
DISCRETION ADVISED; CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING KAMLOOPS – A justice in Kamloops Supreme Court acquitted a Merritt father accused of touching his daughter for a sexual purpose after determining the daughter’s testimony was inconsistent. Justice Miriam Gropper said while she found the daughter to be “extremely poised and coherent” as she delivered evidence in court,...
Man earns jail time for robbing Enderby liquor store at knife-point
ENDERBY - A man with a lengthy criminal history was handed three years in prison for robbing the Enderby Liquor Store at knife-point. Donny Glen Neigum, 42, entered the liquor store Dec. 29, 2012 with his face hidden behind a scarf and a hoodie. He brandished a knife, and pushed the handle end of it...
Unsatisfied customer ends up in court after making false allegations
KAMLOOPS – A disgruntled yacht-owner will have to pay $40,000 to the business that sold him the boat after he made false allegations about the business’s sales manager. Robert Turpin, of 100 Mile House, paid $1,160,000 to purchase a used 64-foot yacht from Ocean Alexander Marine Yacht Sales, a business based near Seattle, but when...
Penticton man keeps long-term offender status, appeal denied
PENTICTON - Wilfred Charles Baptiste will keep his criminal designation as a long-term offender after his appeal to have the designation removed was dismissed. Baptiste did not think he fit the long-term offender criteria and appealed to have the designation removed. The appeal was dismissed by Justice Wilcock in Penticton Supreme Court on Sept. 23,...
Matthew Foerster to appeal first degree murder conviction
ARMSTRONG - The man convicted of brutally killing an Armstrong teen is appealing his first degree murder verdict. A jury found Matthew Foerster, 28, guilty of murdering Taylor Van Diest, 18, in April of this year. The verdict carries an automatic life sentence, with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. But a notice of...
Judge rules man’s dangerous driving killed two passengers
KAMLOOPS – It’s been four years since a vehicle accident took the lifes of Brittany Plotnikoff, 20, and Ken Craigdallie, 38, and today a judge’s ruling has determined it was dangerous driving which caused their deaths. Wayne Fedan, born 1961, was originally charged with two counts of impaired driving causing death, two counts of causing...
Sentencing delayed for missionary guilty of assaulting wife and kids
VERNON - The sentence hearing for a missionary found guilty of assaulting his wife and children was postponed Tuesday so he could receive a psychiatric assessment. The 42-year-old was supposed to be sentenced on charges of assault, assault with a weapon and sexual assault Tuesday afternoon in Vernon Supreme Court but a last minute order...
Woman awarded over $366K after vehicle incident
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops woman was awarded over $366,000 in Kamloops Supreme Court after a truck pulling a U-Haul struck the side of a car on a busy highway. The woman was driving 90 km/hr on the highway approaching Peterson Creek bridge when the truck pulling the U-Haul hit the left side of the woman’s...
Father acquitted of shaking infant daughter
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops father who was accused of shaking his baby and causing traumatic brain injury was acquitted in Kamloops Supreme Court Thursday morning. Michael Beakley, born in 1978, phoned his mother outside of court to tell her Justice Hope Hyslop found him not guilty because the baby’s injuries could have occurred in a...
Victim’s mother gives emotional testimony in dangerous offender hearing
PENTICTON - The mother of a sexual assault victim in the dangerous offender sentencing hearing for David Bobbitt recalled the summer night her daughter went missing for hours, tortured by the man who held her captive. Her daughter hadn't shown up to work or dropped off her then 22-month-old son at his grandparents’ house to...
Woman pleads guilty to assaults, shaving heads for her dealer
KAMLOOPS – The lawyer for a woman who kept video footage of herself beating and shaving heads of at least two women, told Kamloops Supreme Court during a sentence hearing his client was acting under the direction of her boss. Mary Lynn Dyson, 30, pleaded guilty last month to charges of assault with a weapon,...
Former co-accused in smuggling case will be paid to testify
KELOWNA - A Supreme Court Justice ruled Friday that a West Kelowna man living in Manitoba will be reimbursed for expenses incurred while testifying in a criminal trial in Kelowna. Barry Ready, now 53, was at one time a co-accused in the trial of Clifford Roger Montgomery and Tariz Mohammed Aslam of Surrey. Both men...
UPDATE: Mom came home to unresponsive baby, court hears
"I WAS TRYING TO GET ANY REACTION OUT OF HER" KAMLOOPS – A Barnhartvale mother delivered tearful testimony in Kamloops Supreme Court this morning about her husband's alleged assault on their infant daughter. Often pausing to collect herself, Cassandra Gunn, born in 1980, said she and her husband were often challenged by their daughter, who...