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Saturday, February 2, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

Sentence looms for shooting in VLA Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca A Prince George man is facing a further 3 1/2 years in jail for shooting a man who confronted him and a fellow culprit caught sneaking onto a neighbour’s property. In all, Crown and defence counsels are seeking via a joint submission a sentence of five years less credit for time served prior to sentencing for Smitty Ralph Bent, 21, for the Sept. 24, 2017 incident.

The man suffered a “through-and-through bullet wound” that punctured his right lung and splintered his shoulder blade.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Snow job Frank Vanderlans uses a snowblower to dig out of his Malaspina neighbourhood home early Friday morning. There may be a break from the snow today but more is expected on Sunday and throughout next week.

Design for E Fry housing project unveiled Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

provincial government MLA was in Prince George on Friday to help unveil an artist’s rendering and floor plan for the Prince George Elizabeth Fry Society’s social housing complex, planned for a site next to Studio 2880 on 15th Avenue. Intended to give women and children escaping violent relationships a safe place to regroup, recover and begin rebuilding their lives, it will consist of 18 transition house beds, 16 units of second-stage housing and 21 townhouses for permanent affordable housing. It’s one of a dozen initial projects adding up to 280 homes across the province that will be funded through the Building BC: Women’s Transition Fund. Over the longer term of 10 years, $734 million has been earmarked through the fund to build 1,500 transition housing, secondstage housing and long-term housing spaces. Mitzi Dean, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, joined Prince George Elizabeth Fry Society executive director Kathi Heim and Mayor Lyn Hall for the event, held at the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. “We have a clear responsibility to help women and children in need in Prince George and around the province,” Dean

Public hearing for cannabis store on Monday Today’s Weather Hi -19° Low -25° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Mitzi Dean, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, was in Prince George on Friday to celebrate a provincial government commitment to create a new housing development for women and their children who are leaving violent relationships. said in a statement. “Our government is working hard to make sure that help is always available. “These new homes in Prince George will assure women and children in violent situations that there are safe and supportive spaces they can turn to and begin the journey of rebuilding.” Dean said the cost of the Prince George

Citizen staff The provincial government’s quest to open a retail cannabis store at the Westgate Shopping Centre will be the subject of a public hearing during this Monday’s city council meeting.

LOCAL HOROSCOPE NEWS OPINION TRAVEL SPORTS A&E

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CROSSWORD COMICS WORKLIFE AT HOME CLASSIFIEDS MONEY RELIGION

project is still going through BC Housing’s development and approval process but in October, a Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing spokesperson said $15.6 million has been approved for the project. The project was first announced in November 2016. Construction is expected to start in fall 2019.

The provincially-run B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch has submitted an application to rezone a spot at 120-6565 Southridge Ave., where a Royal Bank of Canada branch used to be, for a B.C. Cannabis Store. — see STORE, page 2

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Tough decision for bus crash judge

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It was just 11 p.m. and a man was enjoying some time with his wife and family in the backyard of his home near the VLA neighbourhood, the court was told during a hearing Friday in provincial court, when he heard noises coming from his neighbour’s yard. Normally, the neighbour’s dog would be barking but not this time, leading the man to suspect there were intruders looking to carry out a theft under the cover of darkness. When he looked closer, he saw two young men and when he yelled at them, they took off. Fed up with the rampant crime in the area, the man “did an unwise thing” and decided to go after them. He grabbed his BB gun, got in his car, drove around and found them in the 2200 block of Oak Street. He got out but left his gun in the car and launched into an extended, expletive-filled tirade, in part telling them to “get a life” and accusing them of “creeping around people’s back yards like little stalkers.” The two he had taken to task were much younger and lighter and could simply have run off, the court was told. But they opted not to. Instead, one of them pulled out a can of pepper spray and tried to turn it on the man. But he failed to check the direction of the wind and the spray blew back on him. The man laughed and said words to the effect of “you’re such an idiot, you can’t even work a can of mace.” By that point, he had stopped moving towards the two and wasn’t yelling at them anymore. But Bent pulled out a .22 calibre rifle and pulled the trigger. The man suffered a “through-and-through bullet wound” that punctured his right lung and splintered his shoulder blade. He nearly bled to death and ended up hospital for over a week. Fast forward to this month and the man is still feeling the effects. He has trouble breathing and using one of his arms, the court was told. Bent and his accomplice ran away but were eventually tracked down by the RCMP and taken into custody. For reasons not made clear, RCMP released Bent from custody two days later, but by January 2018, he was back in custody on other charges and has remained there ever since. Bent pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to wound. What to do with him has been a topic of discussion between Crown and defence counsels for the past nine months. Although the mandatory minimum for Brent’s offence is four years, cases like his usually draw sentences in the range of six to eight years. — see BENT, page 2

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