A B.C. man found guilty of unlawful confinement of two people, and being a party to a robbery and aggravated assault against the pair in Powell River, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Raymond Wade Cuthbert was convicted along with Clinton Denny Heikel and Jason Dirk Simms, in a case involving two people being confined in a shed behind a homeless shelter.
Justice Andrew Mayer said in a Feb. 21 decision released March 10 that the incident was the result of a stolen drugs dispute in June 2022.
Mayer said Cuthbert and the other accused entered a garden shed, wearing gloves and brass knuckles, and suggested a threat of potential violence.
“One or more of them pulled down a tarp blocking the view inside the shed from the outside and told others who were there to leave,” the judge said.
With the victims now isolated for several hours, Simms pushed one to the ground and began kicking and punching him while he and Clinton Heikel sat on opposite sides of the female victim on a bench, preventing her from leaving.
Mayer said evidence at trial showed the confinement was motivated by Cuthbert’s desire to force one of the two victims to return drugs that he believed the woman had stolen.
The judge said Simms took approximately $400 worth of drugs from her purse while she was on the shed.
“Although [Cuthbert] did not perform the act of robbing [the woman], Mr. Cuthbert and Clinton Heikel knew that robbery was a probable consequence of carrying out the act of confinement that they participated in,” Mayer said.
Mayer said Heikel at one point used a lighter to heat a knife and burn the woman. The judge said, “Mr. Cuthbert and Jason Simms intended to assist him and played an active role in the assault by confining and controlling the victims.”
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she no longer feels safe living in Powell River.
The Crown suggested a sentence of five years for all offences while the defence suggested 41 month’ time served.
