Greg Amos/Staff Writer
After numerous delays, the trial of the "Bushman of Gambier" concluded on Tuesday with a trip to the slammer for Robert Anderson.
Anderson, 54, was sentenced to a three-and-a-half-year prison term on a charge of aggravated assault stemming from a stabbing on the shores of Gambier Island in June. Thirteen months credit was deducted for the six-and-a-half months Anderson spent in custody at the North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre, leaving him with 29 months left to serve."A significant jail sentence is required," said Justice Anne E. Rounthwaite in handing down her decision. "A conditional sentence would impose a danger to the community."
In addition to the jail term, Rounthwaite handed down a restriction preventing Anderson from possessing any firearm, ammunition, explosive or other weapon (not including knives) for 10 years. Anderson was also ordered to provide a DNA sample for inclusion in the National DNA Databank established in 2000.
After the stabbing, Anderson eluded Sunshine Coast RCMP, the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team and a Police Services dog unit during a two-day ground and air search. RCMP finally arrested Anderson when he returned to his boat. In August, Anderson was found psychologically fit to stand trial, and pled guilty to the aggravated assault charge on Oct. 22, after a charge of attempted murder had been dropped. The details of the stabbing were revealed during the sentencing hearing. They paint a picture of a late-night alcohol-fueled argument over religion taking a turn for the worse aboard Anderson's boat, Lovable.Victim David Hollinger, 57, and his friend Michael Bingham were acquainted with Anderson and had visited Anderson on the afternoon of June 23 to receive a sailing lesson from him. All three were drinking beer, with Anderson consuming more than the other two, and allegedly drinking whiskey as well. After Bingham had gone to sleep below deck, Anderson and Hollinger stayed talking on deck. During a religious disagreement, Anderson pulled a knife and held it against Hollinger's neck for a few seconds before pushing the blade into his throat. As he did so, Hollinger recalled Anderson saying, "You're going to bleed to death now and I'm going to jail for the rest of my life."
Fearing for his life, Hollinger stood up and said to Anderson, "It's OK, Rob, I'm not that badly injured," then asked Anderson to leave the boat in a dinghy, which he did. Hollinger and Bingham then sailed towards the mainland, called and were intercepted by the Coast Guard. When Hollinger arrived in hospital that night, doctors were relieved to find his trachea wasn't cut. He was treated and released the next day and has fully recovered.
Hollinger declined to provide a victim impact statement to be used in the sentencing, stating his main concern is for Anderson to receive treatment and counselling while in jail - something Rounthwaite said Anderson will get in prison.
The sentencing arguments presented by Crown counsel Trevor Cockfield and defence lawyer Darcy Lawrence on Jan. 3 centred around the significance of the weapon used in determining an appropriate sentence. At that time, Cockfield asked for a two to four year jail sentence, while Lawrence asked for a sentence of two years less a day, to be served as a conditional sentence in the community. Lawrence submitted a plan for Anderson's recovery that included a 90-day alcohol treatment program and a personal development program through the Salvation Army's Belkin House in Vancouver.
In his pre-trial psychiatric assessment, Anderson had said, "The way I see it, I've had a long history of bitterness against society, against family, the school system that didn't do anything when I was a kid, the welfare system, and the police so I am antisocial." While Rounthwaite acknowledged Anderson was remorseful for his actions, she wrote in her reasons for judgment the sentence "may favour protection of the public and denunciation over rehabilitation." She wrote Anderson has "a lifelong sense of entitlement and a tendency to blame others for his circumstances, bitterness, and anti-social outlook participating successfully in a residential treatment program would present tremendous challenges for Mr. Anderson."
Anderson was on probation when he committed the June assault, from a weapon possession offence in 2006. In that case, Anderson had brandished a machete at a family camping on what he considered to be his beach on Gambier Island. His previous criminal record includes a conviction for uttering threats in 1995 and another conviction for possession of a weapon in 1986.
Cockfield's reaction outside the courtroom was muted: "The Crown received the sentence asked for," he said, while Lawrence indicated he and Anderson will appeal the sentence.
"I'm surprised that [Rounthwaite] imposed a jail sentence at the higher end of the range," he said. "People [beaten] with baseball bats are almost losing their lives, but their attackers get lighter sentences. When you compare that to what's happened here, it's just not on par."
