Two men have been charged with assault in connection with an alleged gaybashing on a Lake Cowichan man Jul 15.
James and Lundi Green are expected to appear in a Duncan court Oct 30 to enter a plea.
Mark Edwards, 21, claims he was attacked by the Greens after Lundi allegedly called him a “fuckin’ fag” and threatened to kill him.
“His dad started choking me from behind. [The son] started punching me in the side of the head and in the back of the head and kicking me in the head,” Edwards alleged in an interview with Xtra West in July.
Edwards claims the alleged assault took place in his car, after the Greens climbed in for a ride home and were asked for an apology for the son’s allegedly homophobic remarks earlier that night in the pub.
Edwards would later be diagnosed with a concussion, a sprained and bruised neck and bleeding from his right ear.
Asked if a hate crime designation is being sought in the case, Crown counsel spokesperson Stan Lowe says “there’s nothing that indicates that at this point.”
“It depends on how the evidence comes out,” he says. “If there is an aspect we can prove under the code by way of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt —that this was based on hate in one of the areas —then we can ask the trial judge to treat that as an aggravating factor on sentencing if they are convicted,” Lowe explains.
Section 718 of Canada’s Criminal Code says people convicted of an offence “motivated by bias, prejudice or hate” based on sexual orientation or other grounds should get a stiffer sentence.
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