Man jailed for 14 days still facing 20 other charges

An Oliver man charged with attempted murder and kidnapping will spend 14 days in prison for a lesser charge.

Afshin Maleki Ighani, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance Thursday in provincial court in Penticton.

Crown and defence presented a joint submission to Judge Meg Shaw because Ighani “has other matters outstanding and we wanted to get through this as quickly as possible so we can focus on (them),” said defence counsel Michael Patterson.

The court heard that early on Jan. 25, 2017, an onduty police officer fuelling up his cruiser in Oliver noticed a vehicle parked nearby with significant damage to its left side. A quick search of the car’s plates revealed they belonged to another vehicle.

After being pulled over, Ighani at first refused to provide his licence and registration, then said he didn’t have a licence and that he’d borrowed the car from a friend.

“He provided several different (names) the officer describes as Bible names,” said Crown counsel Matthew Canzer, then continued to insist he wouldn’t provide it as he’d done nothing wrong.

Police found $1,903.60 that officers believe is the proceeds of crime and approximately 16 grams of cocaine on Ighani’s person. He said the jacket wasn’t his and that he didn’t know what the powder was.

“At this point, the officer noticed that he observed Mr. Ighani had white powder residue around his nostrils and contracted pupils,” said Canzer. He was then taken into custody.

Judge Shaw was concerned with the length of the sentence, citing a similar incident in 2001 which led to Ighani serving 21 days.

Ighani, who appeared by video from the Okanagan Correctional Centre, is still facing a total of 20 charges, including the April 19 attempted murder of Thomas Szajko in Oliver, and kidnapping using a firearm April 22 in Princeton.

He’s due for a bail hearing on those matters on July 7.