Guilty plea to manslaughter in shooting of bystander

One of two men accused of shooting innocent young bystander James Bajkor has been sentenced to eight and a half years after pleading guilty earlier this week to manslaughter.

But Christopher Newton will serve one year of that sentence after being given credit for time already served while waiting in jail, court heard on Thursday.

Newton pleaded not guilty three days earlier to seconddegree murder, but guilty to manslaughter in Bajkor’s death. An additional attempted murder charge was later withdrawn by the Crown.

Before pleading, Newton, 34, was about to go on trial along with a co-accused for the murder of Bajkor, 21, on Victoria Day 2012, and for the attempted murder of another man who survived.

During the plea, Justice Allan Whitten imposed a ban on publication on the agreed facts of the case until after the trial of Newton’s co-accused has ended.

Assistant Crown attorney Jill McKenzie had asked for a 10-year sentence for Newton, with two and a half left to serve.

Defence lawyer Lauren Wilhelm had asked that Newton be sentenced to time already served and be released.

In sentencing, Whitten called Bajkor a “totally unrelated innocent victim” and noted that the shooting took place in a residential area on a May long weekend “where the likelihood of residents being outside was high.”

Bajkor was shot and killed while fixing the roof of a house on Milton Avenue that he owned, but rented out.

Whitten made reference to the heartbreak and devastation Bajkor’s parents and his girlfriend have endured. Court heard Bajkor was fixing the house for him and his girlfriend to eventually live in.

In imposing the sentence, Whitten also prohibited Newton from owning or possessing any firearms.

Newton has a criminal record that includes violence and the use of weapons.

It includes convictions for assault and robbery. He has defied past court orders prohibiting possession of weapons, court heard.

Newton had a trial in 2014, but the Ontario Court of Appeal last year ruled the judge in that trial erred in the charge to the jury and called for a new trial.