Man who set tattoo business ablaze will spend 21/2 years behind bars

A Moose Jaw man who set fire to the Gaslight Tattoo Parlour at the behest of a creditor to whom he owed money will spend some time in prison paying for the offence.

Tyler Earl Ellis-Thomson, 21, previously pleaded guilty to arson, conspiracy and breaches and returned to Regina provincial court on Wednesday for sentencing.

Judge Barbara Tomkins heard submissions last week from Crown prosecutor Lloyd Stang and a selfrepresented Ellis-Thomson, who court heard got in over his head while selling drugs purchased on credit from a supplier known to be a member of a biker gang.

Tomkins took a few days to consider and returned on Wednesday, imposing a sentence of 2½ years.

Court heard Ellis-Thomson owed $16,000 when he agreed to set fire to the Saskatchewan Drive business, which court heard was associated with a biker gang that was a rival to Ellis-Thomson’s supplier. Neither gang was identified in court.

The act was to result in a write off of his debt and so Ellis-Thomson, early in the morning of July 4, 2016, went through with it. The fire engulfed the interior but fire crews managed to extinguish it before it could threaten a nearby house.

The conspiracy charge relates to an incident from January in which he and four others plotted the robbery of a drug dealer.

While Ellis-Thomson didn’t participate in the actual incident on Deergrove Crescent, court heard the situation went bad and a friend of the dealer was shot several times by one of Ellis-Thomson’s co-conspirators. That man underwent surgery, including to repair internal organ damage resulting from a wound to his abdomen.