The bloodied and frightened man who burst into the Ferndale Community Hall after jumping out of the second story window of a nearby home two-and-a-half years ago has been sentenced to two years in prison for refusing to testify against his alleged tormentors.
The man, who cannot be named under a court ordered publication ban related to the first of two ill-fated trials on the matter, was issued the term Thursday in Prince George provincial court after pleading guilty to counts of attempting to obstruct justice and disobeying a court order.
As a result of his refusal, the case against Michael Andrew Joseph Fitzgerald, Francois Christiaan Meerholz, Dillan Meerholz, and Craig Anthony Niedermayer was dismissed in February.
The man testified in the first trial against the four, held in early 2013, telling a horrific story of being held in the home for about six days where he said he was stapled with a tack hammer, his cheek pierced with gardening shears, and kicked, jumped and stomped on.
After he was told "tonight you're going to die," and that a gang-related enforcer was going to show up, he was able to sneak away when left unguarded, jumping out of a second story window and then running to the community hall where a presentation on organic farming was being held. As he hid in the back kitchen, RCMP were called to the scene.
The Crown had alleged the four kidnapped the man because they suspected he was responsible for the loss of about seven kilograms of marijuana from a Salmon Valley grow operation.
The trial was halted after nearly seven days of testimony when Provincial Court Judge Darrell O'Byrne, now deceased, fell ill. A mistrial was declared and the four were released from custody on conditions.
A second trial began in July 2013 but was bogged down with legal wrangling and trouble finding dates to hear evidence. Then, in February, Provincial Court Judge Dan Weatherly dismissed the case after the man repeatedly refused to appear in court to testify.
The court heard Thursday that he was reluctant to return to the stand because his girlfriend had received threats in the lead up to the second trial.
He was arrested in mid-August and could have received credit for nearly 160 days time served but asked that he be issued a full two years of new time so he could serve his term in the federal system where the programs for rehabilitation are better than in provincial institutions.
In making submissions, Crown counsel Mary Louise Ahrens referred to the cases against Gillian Guess and Peter Gill. Guess became romantically involved with Gill while she was the juror in the 1995 trial for the accused murderer and five others who were eventually acquitted. Both were found guilty of obstruction of justice Guess was sentenced to 18 months in jail and Gill to six years, and in arriving at two years, Ahrens said the man was more culpable than Guess but not as culpable as Gill. Defence lawyer Jon Duncan agreed that two years was appropriate.
