A Manitoba judge says he handed a violent offender a lighter sentence due to the offender’s indigenous status. The offender was found guilty of stabbing a man during a chance meeting, leading to the victim’s death.
Associate Chief Judge Geoffrey Bayly said he considered the background of Dean Bell, 31, when sentencing him in the Provincial Court of Manitoba in Swan River on Oct. 2.
“The offender’s history of victimization, trauma, and cultural disenfranchisement is intricately linked to our country’s shameful legacy of colonialism and attempts at cultural genocide,” Bayly said in the decision.
He also noted that mitigating factors were Bell’s “demonstrated remorse,” that he had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and his “insight into wrongdoing.”…