Dealer gets six years for role in drug user's death

A Surrey drug dealer has been handed a six-year jail sentence for his role in the death of a drug user over a drug debt on Remembrance Day in 2019.

According to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Martha Devlin, Andrew Baldwin, 30, of Surrey incurred a $5,000 debt in the summer of 2019 for drugs supplied by Munroop Singh Hayer.

Hayer, 30, was the leader of a low-level drug group. He began pressuring Baldwin to repay the debt over the fall of 2019.

In September and October of that year, Hayer harassed Baldwin's mom by text using foul and threatening language.

One of the text messages said: “if you really care for him and want everything to be good, do him a favor and just pay it for him.”

By November, the debt was still unpaid so Hayer ordered one of his underlings, Jordan Bottomley, to visit Baldwin at a friend's home and threaten him.

On the evening of Nov. 11, Bottomley broke into the home, armed with a knife, and stabbed Baldwin 10 times, leading to his death.

In January 2020, Hayer, Bottomley and two associates were arrested. Hayer and Bottomley were charged with first-degree murder, but the charges were reduced to manslaughter in April 2023 in exchange for admitting to the crime.

Bottomley was handed an eightyear sentence last July.

Devlin said the Crown wanted Hayer jailed for 12 years, while his defence was asking for a five-year sentence.

“In particular, the Crown emphasizes, in relation to the aggravating factors, that Mr. Hayer engaged in a campaign of threats to recover a drug debt. When this was not successful, he orchestrated a plan to have Mr. Bottomley, a subordinate in the drug trade, confront Mr. Baldwin — a drug-addicted, vulnerable person,” Devlin wrote.

By contrast, the defence stated that while manslaughter was a grave offence, Hayer had simply told Bottomley to confront Baldwin over the drug debt and did not know Bottomley would be armed.

Devlin sentenced Hayer to six years in prison, which will be reduced to five years and six months due to some time already served.