A Prince George man who bear sprayed a quadriplegic and his two caregivers during a home invasion has been sentenced to three years in jail followed by three years probation.
In a Dec. 10, 2012 incident that lasted less than a minute, Joshua Bowser, 35, had intended only to bear spray the two caregivers but also indirectly sprayed the quadriplegic man in the process, the court heard Monday.
Had she been able to prove he intentionally gone after the quadrlplegic, Crown prosecutor Cassandra Malfair said she would have been seeking a much stiffer sentence for Bowser.
As it stands, Malfair said it appears Bowser had intended to incapacitate only the able-bodied men so he could grab the items he intended to steal and then run, but added he had acted recklessly in also spraying the incapacitated victim.
While the two caregivers could at least wash the spray out of their eyes, the 51-year-old quadriplegic man was laying in bed in his Chief Lake Road home and was unable to wipe the spray out of his nose and eyes because of his condition.
The glasses he was wearing afforded some protection but the spray still caused respiratory problems because he also suffers from asthma and was living in the rural area because the air is cleaner.
The court heard that Bowser had become addicted to cocaine after falling into a depression following the death of a sister in a 2007 highway collision and worked up a "significant debt" to his drug dealer.
Bowser had been hired by the man to build a shed on his property. When he was paid, he took the money to the dealer to pay off part of what he owed.
But Bowser made a decision he has regretted ever since, the court heard, and told the dealer that the man kept all his medication, debit cards and credit cards, cheque book and cash in a fanny pack.
The dealer ordered him to rob the home and Bowser, who had also been working as a doorman at a crack shack in exchange for drugs, complied out of fear, defence lawyer Jason LeBlond said.
"He had seen first hand what some of these people are capable of," LeBlond said, and added they threatened to not only harm Bowser but also another of his sisters, who had also fallen into the local drug culture.
Two other men - John Robert Hawkins, 56, and Joel Milton Clark, 28, - were sent along with him, each given masks and gloves and Bowser was given the bear spray, the court heard.
Hawkins, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2013 for his role, was described as an enforcer with a long criminal record, including a conviction for manslaughter over an apparent drug debt collection gone wrong, and had been out of prison for just two-and-a-half weeks from a previous offence.
A recording from a security camera at the home showed the three leaving and although he had a bandana over his face, jail guards were able to recognized Hawkins from his distinctive hair.
Clark, who remains to be sentenced and is in custody, had been out for just two days after completing a jail term for a June 2012 robbery and assault in Salmon Valley.
In contrast, Bowser had no criminal record and when he heard there was a warrant out for him, came back to Prince George from Saskatchewan, where he was working, turned himself into the RCMP and "told police everything," Malfair said.
"He cried when interviewed, he was remorseful, he was ashamed for what he'd done, he felt bad for his victims, was very frightened," Malfair said. "He was behaving in a way that was consistent with somebody who can be rehabilitated."
And while the robbery was a home invasion because Bowser knew there would be people in the home, others have received similar sentences for worse actions, the court heard, including an instance when the ringleader of a home invasion put a gun to a four-year-old's head.
"The goal was clearly to incapacitate people temporarily and grab the money and go, it was not to terrorize and confine the people in the house," Malfair said.
Bowser apologized for his actions when given a chance to speak in court.
"What I did that night was a horrible thing," Bowser said. "I hurt three people, innocent people."
Provincial Court Judge Michael Brecknell indicated he struggled over whether to agree to a joint submission for sentencing from Malfair and LeBlond, given in part the "angry outburst" from the public when the incident was first reported in the local media.
But while the offence is "clearly very grave," Brecknell said each and every sentencing is an individual process and found Bowser is in no need of deterrence and rather his sentence is about deterring others.
Conditions of Bowser's probation include paying $800 restitution for the money he stole, an apology to the three victims by the end of next year and 50 hours of community service work by the end of 2016.
Brecknell also urged Bowser to see a doctor about whether he is suffering from a mental illness that requires therapy and to talk to the Prince George Hospice Society about grief counselling.
Bowser received one-and-a half days credit for each of the 371 days he has been in custody since his arrest, meaning he has 18 months left to serve behind bars.
