Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Men sentenced for roles in 'bloodbath'

Men sentenced for roles in 'bloodbath' Five-year sentence reduced for time spent in remand; second man gets fined Karen Kleiss edmontonjournal.com Monday, March 10, 2008 EDMONTON - A young man convicted of manslaughter after a "bloodbath" at a southside townhouse was sentenced today to five years in a federal penitentiary. Because of the time Jeremy Aucoin has already spent in the Edmonton Remand Centre, however, his prison time was reduced to two years for his role in the stabbing death of Lloyd Dickson, 30, in 2004. Aucoin, 21, received two-for-one credit for the 18 months he has already spent in the remand centre. His co-accused, Dorian Taylor, 21, was fined $1,500. A jury had convicted him of assault in connection with Dickson's death. On Oct. 2, 2004, Dickson burst into a Mill Woods townhouse seeking revenge for a friend who had been hit over the head with a beer bottle. He was attacked by a group of men, including Taylor and Aucoin. He was punched, kicked and hit with a closet bar. He suffered five stab wounds, one through the heart. Crown prosecutor Tania Sarkar had asked for a sentence of six to eight years for Aucoin. She told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terrance Clackson the attack was a "bloodbath" and that Aucoin showed no remorse. Defence lawyer Michele Reeves said her client should be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison, and that he should get more than two-for-one credit for time spent in the remand centre because he was held in the gang unit. "He has already done three (years)," Reeves argued. "He has done his time." The Crown asked Clackson to sentence Taylor to eight to 12 months, while his lawyer argued for a $1,000 fine instead. In victim impact statements read in court, Dickson's family remembered a strong leader who once quit a job only to have his entire crew quit with him and follow him to his new place of employment. "He believed he could defuse any situation with words and the strength of his Christian faith," Dickson's grandmother, Jean Madison, told the court before reading a poem written by her grandson. His mother, Pat Greenly, said in a victim impact statement that her heart aches for her son but she forgives the offenders. "I pray that God have mercy on them," she said. kkleiss@thejournal.canwest.com © Edmonton Journal 2008

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