Crown asks for 2-year sentence over slashing of pizza guy
Slashing a pizza delivery driver’s face with a utility knife should draw a two-year jail term, the Crown argued this week at the assailant’s sentencing hearing in provincial court in Penticton.
Dayne Douglas Jones, 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday to resisting arrest and assault causing bodily harm in relation to the Dec. 14, 2015 incident.
Court heard Jones was heavily intoxicated by alcohol when he ordered a pizza from Canadian 2 for 1 just before midnight. Jones was unable to find his wallet when his order arrived, so the delivery driver, Brian Booth, left with the pie.
“Mr. Jones then called the restaurant again, requesting a pizza or he was going to come down there and strangle them if they did not deliver,” continued Crown counsel Ann Lerchs.
Booth, also a part-owner of the restaurant, returned to Jones’ apartment on Westminster Avenue and an altercation ensued, which ended with Booth grabbing the knife and fleeing to his car, then driving himself to Penticton Regional Hospital, where he received 30 stitches to repair lacerations to his face and hands.
Booth told police he returned to the apartment without reporting the threats “because he deals with drunk people all the time and felt he could smooth things over and defuse the situation,” Lerchs explained.
She said Jones was arrested minutes later after a struggle with police, to whom he later directed homophobic and racial comments.
Once he sobered up, however, Jones, who has prior convictions for assault and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, told police Booth was the aggressor.
Defence counsel James Pennington acknowledged his client was a “loud-mouthed drunk” on the night in question, but said Booth, who is a trained martial artist and outweighed Jones by about 30 kilograms, is “not your average pizza guy.”
“In my submission, the reason why Mr. Booth went back to Mr. Jones’ apartment was to teach Mr. Jones a lesson that he can’t be mouthing off to (Mr. Booth’s) staff,” said Pennington.
Jones, he continued, has been sober since the incident and completed a 90-day residential treatment program for drug and alcohol addictions.
Pennington suggested a suspended sentence of up to three years’ probation or a 90-day jail sentence to be served on weekends.
Jones, who works for his family’s heavy-equipment hauling business, apologized in court to Booth, who was not present.
“I’m regretful of the situation. I’m doing my best to get my life back on track,” said Jones.
Judge Gale Sinclair is set to hand down his decision March 3.