B.C. Appeals Court orders new hearing for convicted airport drug smuggler
VANCOUVER — A man found guilty of using his job at the Vancouver airport to help smuggle drugs may spend more time behind bars.
Gurvinder Singh Pahl pleaded guilty in January 2015 to possessing ecstasy for the purpose of exportation and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The Crown had asked for eight years and appealed the sentencing decision, arguing the judge considered inadmissible information in a psychologist’s report when determining the sentence.
A panel of three B.C. Appeals Court judges agreed in a ruling released Friday that a mistake was made, and a special commissioner will now determine the admissibility of the evidence and send the case back to the court for sentencing.