Guilty plea in Vernon park homicide

Oct 23, 2017 | 4:15 PM

VERNON — A man who killed a friend after a disagreement in Vernon’s Polson Park, has been sentenced.

30 year old Tal La Riviere had been charged with second degree murder, but pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

He punched and kicked 42 year old Jason Hardy in August 2015 after the two men had a dispute over Hardy’s bank card which the pair had earlier used to withdraw cash to buy drugs.

La Riviere was given a 5 year prison sentence, which means an extra 2 years in prison in addition to the three years he’s already served.

Hardy’s step mother Connie Allard says she and Hardy’s father John accepted La Riviere’s apology, even though they weren’t sure it was sincere.

“We don’t like to feel angry. We went through two years of a lot of emotions, and you don’t want to sit there and be angry with someone forever. I would like to see him get help for himself, serious help,” Allard who lives in London Ontario, told the media after the judgement.

Judge Mayland McKimm said La Riviere did not plan to kill his friend that night.

“The death of the deceased was entirely unintended.”

McKimm also accepted La Riviere’s efforts to rehabilitate his life.

“I accept rehabilitation is a significant part of the sentence,” said the judge.

The sentence was jointly recommended by Crown counsel William Hilderman and defence lawyer Robert Claus.