[SIZE="6"][B]Trio tried to frighten Chinese back home[/B][/SIZE]
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][SIZE="4"]Court Man admits possessing knife[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday August 29th, 2007
Appeared on page C1

SAINT JOHN - A man and his girlfriend walking on University Avenue late at night, earlier this month, heard footsteps running toward them from behind. When they turned, three young men stopped and apologized, saying they thought the couple were Chinese.

On Tuesday, the only adult in that group, Jonathan Clifford Martin, 19, pleaded guilty to possession of a knife. A charge of spray painting a bus shelter with racial epithets was withdrawn.

Last week a 17-year-old youth pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and to assaulting two Chinese students July 28. A 15-year-old is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at the Miramichi Youth Jail after pleading not guilty to assault and weapons charges.

Martin was not charged with the attack on July 28, but he was with the group on Aug. 9 when they confronted the man and his girlfriend. The trio told the couple they were doing random beatings on Chinese students to scare them into going back home and to keep others from coming to Canada. They asked the man to join them, but he declined and called police when he got away from them.

Police had increased their presence in the University Avenue area after attacks on Chinese students on July 28 and Aug. 4. No charges have yet been laid in relation to the attack in August.

Martin was not the one who did the talking when the trio approached the man on University Avenue, but he was present, said prosecutor Kelly Winchester. The witness told police all the young men had shaved heads and were carrying pieces of pipe.

When police arrived a short while later, they found the three young men, but they were not carrying any weapons. So after getting names and an address, they were sent on their way. But a short while later another officer found the pipes, a knife and spray paint under a car a few metres away from where they questioned the young men, so they were arrested at the address given.

The man that called police said he had recently started working with a Chinese student and had heard how scared the local community was because of the two attacks. He wanted to help, so he called police, said Winchester.

When Martin was arrested he told police he had not done anything like that before, and had only shaved his head that night. The police report indicated he still had shaving cream and bits of hair on his head, said Winchester.

Sentencing was adjourned until Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m. for preparation of a pre-sentence report. Martin was remanded to jail.


转自
[url]http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/58886[/url]

[SIZE="6"][B]Hate crime charges possible[/B][/SIZE]

Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday August 29th, 2007
Appeared on page C1


SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Police Force is considering pursuing hate crime charges in connection with the recent racially motivated attacks on Chinese students, says Insp. Darrell Scribner.

"There's nothing that we're not looking at," he said.

The file is "still evolving," he added, declining to elaborate.

One of the hate crimes under the Criminal Code is the wilful promotion of hate, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail as an indictable offence. The summary conviction carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

There is also a sentencing provision that allows a judge to impose a stiffer penalty when there is evidence that the offence was "motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation and any other similar factor."

Police will need to consult with the Crown prosecutor's office to determine whether the attacks involve the elements of a hate crime, said Scribner.

The files would then have to be approved by the provincial Attorney General's office before proceeding.

It's a long and complicated process, said Const. Bryan Butler, of the Codiac RCMP, who pursued hate crime charges in a cross-burning case in Moncton in 2001.

But both of the accused were successfully convicted and sentenced to jail, he said.

"It was time to shut the door on these guys," said Butler, referring to a small group of racist skinheads.

The group "seemed to disburse" once the charges were laid, he said, suggesting they were a powerful deterrent. "It's quite a thing to have on your record," said Butler, a community policing school resource officer.

"It made a humongous difference," he said. "Well, we've never had another incident since."

On July 14, 2001, a burning cross lit up the sky in front of a black family's home in the affluent neighbourhood of Kingswood and thrust Moncton into the national spotlight.

In October of that year, a 19-year-old man was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to wilful promotion of hatred. He was also placed on two years of supervised probation with the condition that he receive "intensive social contact sensitivity therapy" to help curb his anger and intolerance toward people of other cultures and races.

Although the man said the matter had been blown out of proportion and that it was just a prank, provincial court Judge Sylvio Savoie argued that it had damaged the reputation of the community. He described the crime as one of intolerance, prejudice and hate.

In March 2002, a 20-year-old man was also sentenced to four months in jail for his role in pounding the one-metre gasoline-soaked cross into the lawn and setting it on fire. He was also placed on probation for two years, ordered to abstain from alcohol and to compete a social context sensitivity training course.

In Saint John, Jonathan Clifford Martin, 19, of Quispamsis, changed his plea to guilty Tuesday of possession of a knife for a purpose dangerous to the public peace on Aug. 9. A mischief charge for damaging a bus shelter in the University Avenue area where 'Gooks go home' had been spray-painted on the glass was withdrawn.

Martin will be sentenced on Oct. 17. He remains remanded at the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre.

A 17-year-old, who cannot be identified, has admitted his part in assaulting two Chinese students with a weapon near University Avenue on July 28. He has also pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace when he was arrested on Aug. 9. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27.

A 15-year-old, who also cannot be identified, is undergoing a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the Miramichi Youth Jail and is due back in court on Sept. 7. He has pleaded not guilty to using a wooden stick as a weapon in assaulting the two students and not guilty to possession of a steel pipe for purposes dangerous to the public peace.

A fourth individual is scheduled to be in court on Oct. 24 in connection with the July 28 incident as well as an Aug. 4 attack on two Chinese students in the University Avenue area, Scribner has said. A 19-year-old Saint John man faces at least two counts of assault with a weapon.



转自
[url]http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/58888#[/url]

恩，Saint John名人，不要老抛头露脸在这里说话，小心狗仔队～～