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Man sentenced for tenant dispute turned violent

An acrimonious relationship between a Prince George landlord and tenant boiled to a point where the 66-year-old renter beat the owners as they removed his property.
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An acrimonious relationship between a Prince George landlord and tenant boiled to a point where the 66-year-old renter beat the owners as they removed his property.

Elmer Lawrence Statham was found guilty of assault and assault with a weapon after a trial judge found his reaction "gratuitous" and "grossly excessive."

On Wednesday, Statham, who now lives in Quesnel, was handed a six-month conditional sentence, including three months of house arrest save for two hours of personal time.

Just days before Statham and the landlord were scheduled to appear before the residential tenancy branch, the two exchanged angry words at a skateboard park.

By the time Statham got home the landlord - a woman and a man - were pulling a heater out of his house. Statham called 9-1-1. Court heard the power had previously been turned off and Statham had gone to police alleging break and enter but RCMP told him their conflict was a civil matter.

But that day Statham pushed the woman to the ground and started punching the man over and over, said Crown lawyer Carole Hawes, who appeared with the judge and defence by video conference.

"He took matters into his own hands," she said, adding the man Statham attacked didn't fight back, curled into the fetal position and cowered.

Statham bloodied the man's face and kept punching him "even after he was down." Then Statham pulled a conduit pipe from the back of his pickup and hit him too.

Hawes characterized the assault, which left the man missing a tooth and multiple bruises, as savage, "prolonged and excessive" and said Statham hasn't changed his opinion of the assault, calling it an aggravating factor.

"Mr. Statham still believes what he did was right."

While the Crown painted a picture of a planned vicious assault, defence argued it was an overreaction to provocation of heaters removed from his house.

"He went too far," agreed Glenn Verdurmen. "He was not being helped by police and he was not being helped by the tenancy board"

Statham is living in Quesnel taking care of his elderly mother who has mobility issues.

He only moved to Prince George when his mother needed medical treatment to give them a place closer to that care, Verdurmen heard. Verdurmen called that support a prosocial activity and argued jail wasn't a fitting sentence and would cause harm.

Statham, who has a dated criminal record of one other offence, worked for years as a heavy equipment operator and continues to work out of Prince George.

Provincial judge Leonard Marchand agreed that was one of "only a few" mitigating factors and laid out several on the other side: the disproportionate reaction, the lack of remorse, the physical and emotional injuries, and a tenancy meeting just days away.

He said a conditional sentence was appropriate because Statham lived in a different community and noted the trial showed there was inappropriate conduct from both parties and a "history of animosity."

Statham was also handed a 12-month probation order and $200 in victim surcharges.