Sentencing arguments heard in Mill Woods stabbing

Sentencing arguments heard in Mill Woods stabbing Karen Kleiss edmontonjournal.com Friday, March 07, 2008 EDMONTON - A young man convicted of manslaughter should be sentenced to at least six years behind bars, a prosecutor argued today. Crown prosecutor Tania Sarkar asked a judge to sentence 21-year-old Jeremy Aucoin to between six and eight years in prison for his role in the stabbing death of Lloyd Dickson, 30, on Oct. 2, 2004. Sarkar told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terrance Clackson that the fatal attack was a "bloodbath," and that Aucoin showed absolutely no remorse. Defence lawyer Michele Reeves said her client should be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison and should get more than two-for-one credit for the 18 months he has spent in the Remand Centre because he has been in the gang unit. "He has already done three (years)," Reeves said. "He has done his time." Last week, a jury convicted Aucoin of manslaughter, while his co-accused, 21-year-old Dorian Taylor, was convicted of assault. The Crown has asked Clackson to sentence Taylor to between 8 and 12 months in jail, while his lawyer says he should pay a $1,000 fine for the assault. On Oct. 2, 2004, Lloyd Dickson burst into a Mill Woods townhouse seeking revenge for a friend who had been hit over the head with a beer bottle. He was attacked by a group of men, including Taylor and Aucoin. He was punched, kicked and hit with a closet bar, court heard. He suffered five stab wounds, one through the heart. In victim impact statements read in court today, Dickson's family remembered a strong leader who once quit a job only to have his entire crew quit with him and follow him to his new place of employment. "He believed he could defuse any situation with words and the strength of his Christian faith," Dickson's grandmother, Jean Madison, told the court before reading a poem written her grandson. His mother, Pat Greenly, said in a victim impact statement that her heart aches for her son but that she forgives the offenders. "I pray that God have mercy on them," she said. The two men are expected to be sentenced March 10. kkleiss@thejournal.canwest.com © Edmonton Journal 2008