Juno News - Killer to be free in 4.5 years + judge goes soft on sexual predator to help citizenship application

00:00:00.000 Welcome to the crime report with Ron Chinser exclusively on Juneau News. My name is Ron

00:00:10.720 Chinser. I'm a former 20 year police officer in Canada. And today we're going to go over some 0.99

00:00:15.360 crazy stories that have happened this week. Now there's been a multitude of them, but we've

00:00:19.120 limited down to a few that are very impactful. You know, for us to be able to continue to tell

00:00:23.580 this story and share the stories that aren't being told anywhere else, we need you to go to

00:00:27.220 JuneauNews.com and subscribe. And if you go to JuneauNews.com forward slash Ron, you can save

00:00:32.900 20% off of your subscription, your support and your help matters to continue telling the truth.

00:00:38.280 Our first story of today starts actually in July of 2023, where a 52 year old victim, a father of

00:00:45.180 seven, a refugee who fled war in the Congo and a man who had to rebuild his life here in Canada

00:00:50.060 was stabbed to death at Edmonton's Belvedere LRT station in a completely unprovoked random act of

00:00:56.420 violence. The killer was Jamal Joshua Malik Wheeler. He was a 29 year old with a disturbing

00:01:02.200 history of violent random attacks targeting strangers across Edmonton's transit system.

00:01:07.360 Wheeler had previously been convicted for spraying innocent commuters with bear spray for hitting a

00:01:12.620 man so hard he fell onto the subway tracks and for robbing someone with an axe. His record included

00:01:18.100 multiple convictions for carrying concealed weapons, at least six that we know of. And despite all of that,

00:01:24.380 in July of last year, he was out on bail living in a tent near the transit station in breach of

00:01:29.620 several court orders, including a 24 hour house arrest and a court imposed ban from using or being

00:01:34.800 near any transit property. Now here's what we know from the facts presented in court. On July 9th,

00:01:41.380 2023, the victim took the train from Claireview to Belvedere to meet a friend. As the two were leaving

00:01:47.760 near their station, they crossed paths with Wheeler and his group. An altercation took place,

00:01:52.360 no weapons, no robbery, nothing that would legally justify what came next. Wheeler then chased both

00:01:58.240 men across the bus terminal and stabbed the victim in the chest with a knife. He fled the scene. It was

00:02:04.140 two days later when police tracked him down, partially by identifying a distinctive tattoo across his body

00:02:09.940 that was very vulgar. Now Wheeler was originally charged with second degree murder, but in November of

00:02:16.240 2024, he pled guilty to manslaughter, a charge that means the Crown didn't have to prove the

00:02:22.040 intent to kill. He received seven years in prison, but with enhanced credit for time served, he'll be

00:02:28.400 out in about four and a half years. A man who repeatedly attacked people, a man who already banned

00:02:33.320 from a transit system, a man who killed a complete stranger in cold blood, and we're talking four and

00:02:38.600 a half years before he walks free again. Wheeler's defense leaned heavily on a Gladue report, arguing that

00:02:46.340 his actions were shaped by childhood trauma, a diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder,

00:02:52.120 and ADHD at the age of seven, and years of addiction and homelessness. The court heard that his father was

00:02:58.080 a drug dealer who abandoned him. His mother introduced him to drugs early on, and by grade nine, Wheeler

00:03:03.540 dropped out of school. He was fired on his first and only day of legitimate employment for being intoxicated.

00:03:09.900 He's lived most of his life on the streets, cycling in and out of custody. But here's the line that got

00:03:15.740 missed. This man had already proven he was violent, time and again. The courts had multiple chances to

00:03:22.320 intervene. The justice system knew exactly who he was. He'd been violent before, he was violent while

00:03:28.320 breaching bail, and he killed while on those very same breached conditions. The impact on the victim's

00:03:34.900 family is absolutely immeasurable. His son told the court he's haunted. He can't use public transit

00:03:41.420 anymore. He sees Wheeler's face every time he closes his eyes. And in his words, we lost not just

00:03:47.780 a loved one, but a source of support, guidance, and strength. His killing has left a permanent scar on

00:03:53.060 our lives. And what about the broader impact? Mayor Amarjit Sohi called for bail reform after this murder

00:03:59.540 because it's not an isolated case. These violent repeat offenders aren't being properly supervised

00:04:04.820 and the public, regular people, just trying to get to work or visit friends like you and I

00:04:09.880 are paying the price. You know, I spent nearly two decades on law enforcement and I can tell you

00:04:14.840 with certainty, when you see a pattern of violence offenses against strangers, especially in public

00:04:20.740 spaces like transit, you're looking at someone who's a serious threat to public safety. It's not

00:04:26.400 about stigma. It's about risk. High risk offenders need high risk supervision or detention. This wasn't

00:04:33.160 just a tragic one-off. This was a failure at every level, a preventable homicide, a breakdown in

00:04:39.480 accountability, a justice system that prioritized process over protection. If this is how lightly we

00:04:45.520 take breached bail, court orders, and dangerous offender patterns, then we haven't just failed the

00:04:50.420 victim's family. We failed every Canadian who thinks they're safe while walking through a transit 0.90

00:04:55.800 station. Four and a half years, that's what this man's life was worth under our current system.

00:05:01.760 It's not just unjust, it's unacceptable. Now, this next story has made international headlines

00:05:08.080 making newspapers in India. In December of 2023, 30-year-old Akash Kumar Kent arrived at the Holiday

00:05:15.360 Inn in Mississauga expecting to meet someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. He arranged the

00:05:21.600 meeting online and agreed to pay $140 for sexual services. What he didn't know was that this girl 1.00

00:05:26.500 wasn't real. Thankfully, it was an undercover police operation targeting individuals attempting to

00:05:31.040 engage in illegal activity with minors. Kent was arrested on site with cash in hand. He was charged

00:05:37.600 and eventually pleaded guilty to attempting to commit an indecent act. Now, this charge carries a

00:05:42.780 maximum sentence of two years, believe it or not, and the crowd asked for 90 days in jail. But on June

00:05:48.580 25, 2025, the judge sentenced Kent to a conditional discharge. No jail time, no criminal record. Instead,

00:05:55.400 he'll serve three months under house arrest with permission to work, shop, attend religious services,

00:06:00.620 and go to medical appointments, followed by one year of probation. Now, the reason the judge gave for

00:06:06.820 this leniency, Kent is not a Canadian citizen. He's a permanent resident who came from Gujarat,

00:06:12.460 India in 2019 to complete a master's in engineering. He became a permanent resident in 2023 and recently

00:06:19.980 married a spouse who's here on a temporary work visa set to expire this September. The court stated that

00:06:26.400 the conviction would delay his citizenship by four years and it could affect his ability to sponsor his

00:06:31.940 spouse and might prevent him from getting his professional engineering license. Now, here's what

00:06:36.580 many Canadians are struggling with. This wasn't just a regulatory breach or a minor infraction.

00:06:43.200 This was a serious matter involving the attempt to engage in a criminal act, a sexual act with someone

00:06:49.000 believed to be underage. The intent and the effort were there. The only reason it didn't escalate is

00:06:54.220 because the police stepped in first. The conditional discharge means Kent avoids a criminal record and

00:07:00.960 the rationale behind the sentence focused not on the nature of the act itself, but on the potential

00:07:06.460 immigration and professional consequences if a conviction were entered. In plain terms, the long-term impact

00:07:13.320 on the offender was prioritized over the severity of what was attempted.

00:07:18.540 This outcome sends a strong message and for many, the wrong one. It raises serious concerns about

00:07:25.680 consistency and accountability in sentencing. It also calls into question whether some individuals may be

00:07:31.200 treated more leniently because of the possible administrative fallout, even in cases involving the safety and

00:07:37.080 protection of young people. Now, this isn't just about citizenship or background. It's about ensuring

00:07:44.040 our legal system applies the same standard of accountability to everyone, especially in cases

00:07:49.360 potentially harming our vulnerable people, including young kids. Now, if this had been a real 15 year old

00:07:55.860 and not a police decoy, the outcome would have been very different for everyone involved. Justice must not only

00:08:03.240 be done, it must be seen to be done. And in cases like this, where the public expects clear, firm

00:08:09.660 consequences for actions of this nature, the court's decision understandably left many people asking,

00:08:15.980 well, who's being protected and at what cost? This made it to, obviously, India Times published it.

00:08:22.100 And you know what the message that sends to people in India? Come here, you can sexually sell people, 1.00

00:08:26.620 you're going to be fine. Police services all over the country are always doing proactive and reactive work.

00:08:30.840 And Pierre Regional Police's Central Robbery Bureau has dismantled a violent, organized crime network

00:08:36.300 that carried out more than 15 armed home invasions across the GTA under Project Ghost. These weren't

00:08:42.780 simple break-and-enters. They were terrifying weapon-wielding raids targeting luxury vehicles

00:08:47.720 and high-end jewelry in Brampton, Mississauga, and Halton region. In one early August Brampton incident,

00:08:53.800 suspects followed a homeowner through their driveway, threatened them, and stabbed them when demands

00:08:58.960 for keys to a Mercedes-Benz weren't immediately met. One victim was critically injured with wounds to

00:09:05.060 his chest. A similar case in Mississauga involved the victim shot at close range while trying to

00:09:10.880 protect his $300,000 Lamborghini. Using surveillance footage, seized phones, and suspect interviews,

00:09:17.960 detectives linked 13 suspects, five of them youths aged 15 to 17, to 197 offenses, ranging from robbery

00:09:26.500 and firearm violations to participation in criminal organized crime networks across PL Toronto and

00:09:32.820 Waterloo. The network stole an estimated $1.8 million in luxury cars and jewelry, of which only about

00:09:38.560 one-third has been recovered so far, including replica firearms, phones, laptops, and suspected

00:09:43.800 cocaine. Now, despite the severity and scale of these offenses, at least five of the charged individuals

00:09:49.660 are currently out on bail pending trial, raising serious concerns about the bail practices when violent

00:09:55.660 offenders are involved. Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich stressed that this was not just a law enforcement

00:10:01.180 success, but also an opportunity to intervene with youth before they spiraled into deeper criminal

00:10:06.060 activity. Many of the teen suspects have been connected with support services aimed at rehabilitation,

00:10:12.020 not just incarceration. Now, families living in affected neighborhoods recount waking up to masked

00:10:18.480 intruders with weapons. Some bled in their driveway. Others were tied up and beaten before the thieves,

00:10:25.440 fled with high-value items. The psychological stars run deep. Victims now look over their shoulders in

00:10:32.040 places that they once felt safe. This wasn't a random crime. It was coordinated, ruthless, enterprise,

00:10:38.100 exploiting, vulnerabilities, and youth involved in the crimes. A Project Ghost marks a significant

00:10:43.660 crackdown on violent organized crime, but the ongoing use of bail highlights a critical tension.

00:10:49.800 How do we keep our streets safe while ensuring due process? Cases like this fuel that debate. If offenders

00:10:56.340 are dangerous and remain free pending trial, the public trust in the system is eroded. Law enforcement

00:11:01.920 and prosecutors, aware of both accountability and prevention, face immense pressure to balance

00:11:06.260 community safety with judicial integrity. But this takedown sends a strong message. Appeal police are

00:11:12.140 committed to rooting out organized crime and supporting children caught in the crossfire,

00:11:16.500 but also demands the public ask tough questions about the current bail policies. Are we doing

00:11:22.740 enough to protect communities from high-risk offenders? Are the rules around bail and youth

00:11:27.640 exploitation keeping pace with the sophistication of these criminal networks? Project Ghost removed a

00:11:34.980 predatory crime network from our streets, but it also exposed critical weaknesses in our system. If we want

00:11:41.160 lasting safety in Peel and beyond and the rest of the country, we must combine robust policing with reforms that

00:11:48.040 prevent violent offenders from returning to our neighborhoods before their day in court. Now, let's go to the west side of

00:11:54.060 Canada. On July 4th, 2025, in Kelowna, British Columbia, 41-year-old James Plover was in court being sentenced for a

00:12:01.740 disturbing case of intimate partner violence. He was found guilty of three counts of uttering threats and one count of assault by

00:12:09.400 strangulation. Charges stemming from a prior incident involving his estranged wife, 32-year-old Bailey McCourt.

00:12:15.880 Evidence presented in court revealed that Plover had wrapped his hands around Bailey's neck, made repeated threats to

00:12:22.280 harm her, swung a machete at her vehicle, and destroyed her property during earlier domestic assault. Despite being convicted on

00:12:29.320 all counts that morning and the serious nature of those charges, Plover was released under an existing bail order.

00:12:35.760 That bail, granted weeks earlier, only required a $500 cash deposit and so-called extensive production

00:12:42.400 conditions. No new bail hearing was held after the conviction. Instead, the court agreed to adjourn the

00:12:48.340 sentencing to allow for a psychological report and Plover walked out of the courtroom that same morning,

00:12:53.380 still a free man. That decision would have deadly consequences. Just hours later, at approximately 4.45

00:12:59.920 p.m., Plover returned to the same area where Bailey had reported the previous harassment. In a parking lot near Barron Road

00:13:07.100 and Underhill Street in Kelowna, Plover located Bailey and rammed her vehicle with his truck. According to the police and

00:13:13.500 eyewitnesses, Bailey exited the vehicle in an attempt to flee, but Plover pursued her, tackled her to the ground, and proceeded to

00:13:20.840 violently beat her in public. One witness described him as punching her over and over again. Another woman tried to intervene and was

00:13:28.320 also assaulted. By the time the first responders arrived, Bailey had suffered critical head trauma. She later died in

00:13:35.940 hospital from her injuries, and the second woman sustained serious injuries but survived. Plover was arrested at the scene and

00:13:42.960 has been charged with second-degree murder and assault causing bodily harm. Let's be clear here. This was absolutely

00:13:50.380 preventable. This wasn't a case where the system didn't know. This wasn't a man with a clean record suddenly snapping. This was a

00:13:58.220 man already facing multiple charges for violence against the same woman, convicted, not accused, who was

00:14:05.300 allowed to walk free that morning. And by the end of the day, Bailey was dead. Bailey McCord had reached out

00:14:11.660 for help. She told people she didn't feel safe. She reconnected with her mother for the first time in a

00:14:17.280 decade just weeks before her death, pleading for support and telling her that nobody was listening. Her uncle

00:14:24.300 confirmed the family had raised alarms about Plover's history and feared this exact outcome. The justice

00:14:30.720 system had every opportunity to intervene meaningfully, and it didn't. The bail conditions were weak, the

00:14:37.820 follow-through was absent, and the consequences were fatal. The public, the country, is rightfully

00:14:43.780 outraged. People gathered outside the Kelowna courthouse with signs that read, Justice for Bailey and

00:14:49.300 Bail Reform Now. This wasn't just another domestic violence case. It was a failure of the courts to act after a

00:14:55.780 guilty verdict. A woman who asked for help, who complied with the system, and who deserved protection was left

00:15:02.620 exposed. This tragedy raises fundamental questions about how bail decisions are made after a conviction, especially in

00:15:10.480 cases of intimate partner violence. Why wasn't custody reconsidered the moment the verdict was entered? Why did the court allow a

00:15:18.300 convicted offender with a documented history of threats, physical violence, and stalking behavior to return to the

00:15:24.200 community? Bailey's murder demands more than condolences. It demands reform. If a woman can be choked, threatened, 0.96

00:15:31.780 convicted abuser still walks out the front doors of the court, and she ends up dead the same day, something is

00:15:37.420 broken. And unless we fix it, unless the court's crown and lawmakers take this seriously, more lives will be put at risk.

00:15:44.440 The justice system can't afford to be passive in the face of escalating violence because accountability

00:15:49.940 delayed in this case was protection denied, and Bailey McCourt paid the ultimate price. Now, our Prime

00:15:56.980 Minister, Mark Carney, landed in Hamilton earlier in the week. But let's talk about Hamilton. In Hamilton, over the

00:16:02.580 past few months, gun violence has shattered the lives of ordinary citizens. Two innocent women were killed by

00:16:08.920 random, errant gunfire. And Prime Minister Carney, speaking from Hamilton, even admitted, I suspect the

00:16:15.140 guns used here are from the U.S., marking a sharp break from prior federal messaging. On July 11th, 26-year-old

00:16:23.120 Belina Sarkoti, a new immigrant from Ghana studying and working here, was waiting at the King Street bus stop

00:16:28.880 when bullets erupted across the street. She had done nothing wrong and paid with her life. Just months before,

00:16:35.320 21-year-old international student Harsimrit Randhawa was killed by a stray bullet while waiting at a bus

00:16:41.100 stop near Upper James and South Bend Road in Hamilton. She'd come here to study, to work, and she never

00:16:46.600 made it home. These aren't isolated tragedies. They're a human cost of unregulated, illicit firearms

00:16:52.800 flooding our street. Despite tens of millions spent on federal assault-style rifle ban and an estimated $2

00:16:59.140 billion-plus on a gun buyback program, the arms still pour in largely untracked and unimpeded by

00:17:04.600 porous borders. That's why law enforcement professionals, including me, have called for a

00:17:09.840 focus on border security where the problem starts. I've been saying this for years. We're confiscating

00:17:14.920 from licensed, law-abiding gun owners while violent criminals load up across the border and bring it

00:17:20.080 here. Carney's acknowledgement in Hamilton that guns are probably from the U.S. is crucial, but words must

00:17:26.720 now turn into action. Why fund a failed buyback program that scoops up legally-owned firearms for $2

00:17:32.700 billion-plus while wholesome imports of smuggled weapons continue unabated? That's public money

00:17:39.980 being spent on optics, not outcomes. Police chiefs and border agents have repeatedly warned that without

00:17:45.740 robust border enforcement, gun ban programs amount to rearranging a deck of chairs on a sinking ship.

00:17:52.220 In Hamilton, the numbers hide in plain sight. Three people murdered in random shootings in the last few

00:17:58.660 months. Belinda Hersermit and another unnamed woman, each a victim of stray bullets in public spaces.

00:18:04.260 If our priority is keeping guns out of criminals' hands, why are we doubling down on disarming law-abiding

00:18:10.340 citizens while open borders keep the real weapons pouring in? Hamilton's losses must be a tipping point,

00:18:17.700 not a talking point. We need accountable border control, real interdiction, and enforcement that stops

00:18:24.980 weapons trafficking at the source. We don't need more buybacks for owned rifles. The smart money goes

00:18:30.100 on targeting illegal arms. The government's billions mean nothing if the next female student, 1.00

00:18:35.460 the next immigrant mom, becomes the target of a crossfire from guns that never should have entered

00:18:40.340 Canada in the first place. Well thank you for watching this week's crime report with Ron Chenzer. Again,

00:18:46.580 go to junonews.com forward slash Ron to be able to subscribe and save 20% off of your Juno News

00:18:52.980 subscription. All the support that you give allows us to continue to tell the stories that aren't being

00:18:57.700 told anywhere else.

Juno News - July 18, 2025

Killer to be free in 4.5 years + judge goes soft on sexual predator to help citizenship application

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