Trinidadian Shaun Toon who was found guilty last year on a count of manslaughter for shooting dead a 20-year-old man in Edmonton, Canada broke down in tears yesterday after he was sentenced to a total of 14 years in jail.
Toon and his family wept openly as Justice Adam Germain handed down the sentence at the Queen's Bench Court in Edmonton.The Trinidadian was extradited to Canada from Trinidad in 2004 for the shooting to death of Keith Raglon on September 21, 2003.
Toon had been initially charged with murder but the charge was reduced to manslaughter by an Edmonton court.
Before handing down the sentence to Toon, Justice Germain described the act, saying "he was extremely reckless, careless and willful in his use of the firearm and his pre-shooting decisions in taking a loaded firearm to a party in a residential area and discharging indiscriminately in the vicinity of a large crowd was extremely dangerous".
The judge also sentenced Toon to four years on the charge of carrying a concealed handgun and carrying a firearm without a permit, which will both run concurrently after he serves the manslaughter sentence.
However, Toon will only serve ten years and five months since the judge took into consideration the 21 months he spent in the Edmonton Remand Center prior to the trial.
Defence Attorney Kevin Moore had argued also on Friday gone that Toon should be given credit for time he spent in jail when he was in Trinidad and be given a sentence between one and three years. The judge also turned this down.
Germain said because Toon had fled Canada he would not be given any credit for the time he spent in prison while in Trinidad.
Toon had testified in his 2005 court trial that he shot Raglon in self defence because he feared Raglon would shoot him first.
Toon said Raglon ran toward him during an argument outside the hall and he saw him reaching into his pants.
