A White Rock councillor who was attacked physically and with racial slurs outside his Marine Drive pub last year said he was disappointed to hear that one of the two men charged with the crime will not spend time in jail for his role.
But Bill Lawrence said he also can鈥檛 help but wonder what kind of sentence would have been imposed had the tables been turned.
鈥淚t would have been interesting if the shoe was on the other foot鈥� if the court would鈥檝e been as lenient on me,鈥� Lawrence said Wednesday.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 see many suspended sentences for people of colour these days.鈥�
Lawrence, 56, said he learned this week that David Hugh Watson received a suspended sentence along with 18 months probation in connection with the March 20, 2016 incident.
According to court records, the sentence was imposed April 28 in 性视界传媒 Provincial Court, after Watson pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.
鈥淎 guilty plea is good,鈥� Lawrence told Peace Arch News. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that he committed the offence鈥� definitely owning up to the responsibility that he has.
鈥淲ith an assault, you would think that an individual would get some jail time. In this particular case, I think the penalty did not fit the crime.鈥�
A suspended sentence means Watson鈥檚 conviction will remain part of the public record.
Lawrence 鈥� which occurred outside of his now-closed Sandpiper Pub 鈥� in April of last year. He told PAN at that time that he had been put in a headlock, punched in the ribs and targeted repeatedly with 鈥渢he N-word.鈥�
鈥淭his was a blatant assault,鈥� Lawrence said Wednesday. 鈥淭urned my world upside-down for a while.鈥�
Lawrence named the incident as a key factor in a decision he and pub co-owner Judy Baker made to close their business last September.
Trial for a second man charged in connection with the assault, Andrew Ronald Bader, is .
Lawrence said he is 鈥渓ooking forward鈥� to those proceedings, and 鈥渢o see if the justice system works the way that it should.鈥�
He鈥檚 also looking forward to finally putting the ordeal to bed.
鈥淕et that decision done, finished and put that thing behind me.鈥�
