A 57-year-old known as “Hector the Collector” pleaded guilty to using an imitation firearm in a robbery and was sentenced to time served on June 9 in BC Supreme Court in Prince George.
Court heard that Phillip Gilbert Fraser went to the Smithers residence of two individuals in September 2022 and demanded they pay money they owed. He showed them an imitation firearm and struck them both with it. They gave him all the cash they had, which amounted to $50.
Fraser also pleaded guilty to breaching the round-the-clock house arrest condition on his bail when he assaulted a man who would not leave a family’s residence.
Justice Michael Tammen said that Fraser’s 357 days in custody earned him 536 days of time served credit, “which is either four days or potentially 11 days short of 18 months, depending on how one does the arithmetic.”
Tammen gave Fraser time served of 18 months plus one day in jail, “and that day will be today, and 12 months probation.”
The mother and fiancee of the Tahltan Nation man were both in court for the hearing. Fraser’s defence lawyer, Mohammad Hajivandi, said his client had been incarcerated in the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre but was transferred to the Kamloops provincial jail due to crowd control policies in Prince George.
Court also heard that Fraser has worked as a heavy machine operator and driller, including on projects in the Middle East. He lost his most-recent job, as a site supervisor at a major BC mine project, after he was arrested.
