Tuesday, July 6, 2010 Legend’s son headlines this year’s Caribbean Festival downtown.
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Andrew Ladd
Date set to see the Stanley Cup
EVENTS ❚ Fists of fury
July 18 is the date to see our hometown hero and to touch the legendary hockey trophy. Hurricanes. In December of 2004 Andrew was asked to join the roster of Canada’s team for the World Junior Championship. The line-up included Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf and a couple of players that Andrew would eventually play with in Chicago, Brent Seabrook and Colin Fraser. That year marked one of the most talented line-ups due to the NHL lockout and Andrew had the opportunity to play against Russian phenom Alexander Ovechkin. In early January, 2005 Andrew proudly displayed a Gold Medal to family and friends. On 2005, Andrew Ladd was honoured at the annual Meadowridge Rotary Cub Sports banquet and named a ‘Home Town Hero’ along with another local hockey player, Brandon Yip. In November of 2005 Andrew was called up from Carolina’s farm team, The Lowell Loch Monsters and by the time the season had ended he and his teammates were hoisting the Stanley Cup. Andrew’s tenacity and tough play Andrew Ladd hoists the cup. were an Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks important part of that run to the Cup. Maple Ridge and then played In August of 2006, Andrew for the Coquitlam Express brought the Stanley Cup and the Calgary Hitmen in home for a community the WHL. celebration attended by He distinguished himself over 5000 area residents. He in his Rookie year, and his cheerfully signed autographs, play caught the eye of NHL posed for photos and scouts. He was drafted participated in a Q&A with 4th overall in the 2005 young hockey players. Entry Draft by the Carolina Andrew Ladd will soon be bringing the Stanley Cup back to his hometown of Maple Ridge. Ladd, left winger for Chicago Blackhawks, will make a personal appearance at Planet Ice from noon to 2 p.m. on July 18. There will be opportunities to get autographs as well as photos with Ladd and with the Stanley Cup. Ladd said The Cam Neely Arena at Planet Ice holds many special memories for him. “That’s where I played the game as a kid, and I am really looking forward to sharing my dad with the cup with the community,” he said to event organizers. Ladd began his career in
Evan, 6, from Maple Ridge, practices breaking boards at a martial arts demonstration at Spirit Square in Pitt Meadows on Thursday. See more photos from Canada Day on Page 3 and at www.mrtimes.com. Matt Law/TIMES
Corrections
Pratt unreformed by jail
A
s Darnell Darcy Pratt awaits word of his fate from the National Parole Board, his parole documents reveal a portrait of a convicted killer unreformed and not rehabilitated. Pratt, 21, was granted statutory release two weeks ago after serving two-thirds of a six-year manslaughter sentence in the 2005 death of Maple Ridge gas attendant Grant De Patie — dragged seven kilometres to his death after trying to stop Pratt from driving away in a stolen car without paying for $12 worth of gas. Pratt went on the lam a day after he was released, failing to return to his Kamloops halfway house. He was arrested the next day. Despite saying he wants to live a more “balanced lifestyle,” Pratt bailed out of a national substance-abuse program while incarcerated.
His attitude toward the program was negative and his efforts in completing homework was minimal, parole documents say. During the program’s first 16 sessions, Pratt missed three sessions, was late for another three and was suspended Jan. 25, six weeks into the program. “You reportedly said that you did not want to attend the program any more because your statutory-release date was approaching and you would be ‘getting out’ regardless if you completed the program or not,” says the report, which also notes Pratt admitted to drinking alcohol almost every day in the months leading up to the gas and dash incident. The report says Pratt, described as “periodically uncooperative” with his case-management team, was charged with verbal abuse, placed in segregation due to
a fight and was believed to have been drunk with other inmates and to have used drugs while in prison. As recently as March 20, Pratt refused a urine test. Most federal prisoners are eligible for statutory release, which allows prisoners to serve the remaining one-
“You reportedly said that you did not want to attend the program any more because your statutory-release date was approaching.” Report third of their sentence in the community. But the documents reveal the board’s wariness about putting Pratt into the community, saying he presents a moderate risk for general and violent reoffending, especially since he didn’t have a job and few community supports in
place. The report notes Pratt was still young and didn’t have a serious criminal record before his manslaughter charge. It took into account his “unstable” and “dysfunctional” upbringing, during which he was exposed to domestic violence and drug use. Pratt, raised by a meth-addicted single mom, has been in and out of government care since he was 12. Still, the board found Pratt made little effort to address his risk factors while in prison. “There is a continuum of violence from fighting, drinking and driving at a young age, to the senseless violence of the index offence, to incidents of violence during your current sentence,” says the report. The board has 90 days to decide whether to revoke Pratt’s statutory release or to release him into the community.
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