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Friday, March 15, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Crash closes Hart Highway Prince George Fire Rescue were on scene of a car crash on the Hart Highway at Northwood Road on Thursday afternoon. Southbound traffic was completely blocked on the highway as emergency crews dealt with the accident.

Man sentenced to three years for holdups Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca A distinctive set of tire tracks on the getaway car were part of the undoing for a Prince George man sentenced Thursday to three years in jail for a pair of holdups. Less credit for time served prior to sentencing, Jake Travis Wilson, 27, will serve a further 17 months in custody, to be followed by two years probation. The terms came in the form of a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels after Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts each of robbery and use of an imitation firearm for a Jan. 17 holdup of a gas station and a Jan. 23 holdup of a pizza takeout outlet, both robberies occurring around midnight on those respective days. Wilson and a co-accused made off with $250 cash, several scratch and win tickets and about 20 packages of cigarettes from the gas station, and $300 to $400 from the pizza outlet. When RCMP attended the second incident, they noticed something odd about the tire tracks left in the snow by the vehicle used to make the getaway – one of them had a different tread than the other three. They also determined the vehicle was a car with front-wheel drive. A week later, RCMP were called to a complaint that a 700-block Ahbau Street home could be housing a methampthetamine lab. An odour of nail polish coming from the home was reported. Upon arrival, RCMP came across a car matching the description parked in the driveway with Wilson, co-accused Jesse Luke Juillette, the car’s

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There were two employees in the store and, in the process, one said he was punched in the face, leaving him dazed and with a cut over his eye – although he may also have been hit with a pistol – while the other was kicked in the head as he lay on the floor. owner and driver and one other person inside the vehicle. Wilson, Juillette and the owner were arrested and taken into custody. Police pressed the owner about the tire tracks and about whether DNA on a cigarette butt also found at the scene of the pizza store robbery would be a match. At that point, she admitted to being behind the wheel that night but claimed she did not know the two had committed the robbery. No charges were pursued against her. About midway through his interview with police, Wilson also admitted to participating in not only the holdup of the pizza outlet but the gas station. Juillette, meanwhile, continues to face charges from the second robbery and a trial is set to begin in late-April. Wilson told police he was high on methamphetamine on both occasions and had committed the crimes to feed a

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$100 to $150 per day drug habit. In the robbery of the gas station, Wilson and an accomplice convinced another man, who was drunk and high on drugs at the time, to coax the attendant to open a side door. Their faces masked, the two burst in behind him, one holding what appeared to be a handgun and demanded cash. The attendant’s cellphone was smashed to prevent him from quickly calling RCMP. The man who had helped them, meanwhile, remained at the scene, lying on the floor until police arrived. A week later, two masked men burst into the pizza outlet, both with what appeared to be handguns. There were two employees in the store and, in the process, one said he was punched in the face, leaving him dazed and with a cut over his eye – although he may also have been hit with a pistol – while the other was kicked in the head as he lay on the floor. One continues to have breathing problems linked to the injuries he suffered and the other suffered a split lip that required stitches and had problems eating and breathing in the aftermath. Both have since quit their jobs at the store. Provincial court judge Susan Mengering accepted the joint submission with reluctance, saying the sentence is on the low end of the scale given the violence. But she also noted that Wilson has no previous criminal record and has expressed remorse. Wilson was also issued a lifetime firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample. He must also take counselling for drug and alcohol addiction if directed by his parole officer.

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Lack of funding prompts B.C.’s legal-aid lawyers to plan service withdrawal Citizen news service British Columbia’s legal-aid lawyers have voted overwhelmingly to start withdrawing their services next month over lack of funding. The Association of Legal Aid Lawyers says 97 per cent of 590 members voted for job action to limit or suspend legal aid starting April 1. Prince George lawyer and ALL director Liam Cooper said lawyers in this region will participate, starting with a refusal to take on new clients and new charges for clients already under contract. Members could also make their presence known by handing out information to those interested in front of the courthouse, but there will be no picket lines, Cooper said. “We’re not going to shame or chastise anyone (from going into the courthouse),” he said. A news release from ALL says the only pay increase legal-aid lawyers have received in 28 years was in 2006 when their hourly rate was boosted by 10 per cent. The lawyers group also says the average spent per person on legal aid in 1993 was $25.22 and, accounting for inflation, should now amount to about $40. Instead, data shows 2018 per-capita spending on legal aid has fallen to just under $15, ranking B.C. 10th out of 12 provinces and territories. Legal-aid lawyers say the funding cut requires immediate government attention. “As a result of these cuts, vulnerable and marginalized British Columbians are not receiving the legal help they need. Too many people facing difficult family, child protection, immigration and criminal law problems are having to go to court alone,” says the release. The near-unanimous vote underscores that “lawyers cannot continue doing this extremely difficult work under current conditions.” The association calls the result “an overwhelming endorsement” from B.C.’s family, criminal, child protection and immigration legal-aid lawyers. — with files from Mark Nielsen, Citizen

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