Attempted murder with a restricted or prohibited firearm
R. v. Reed
- On release at the time
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Richard Charles Reed pleaded guilty to attempted murder for luring a former friend to a Richmond schoolyard in December 2020 and shooting at him several times, wounding him in the hand, while on probation and under a firearms prohibition. The Crown and defence jointly proposed ten years' imprisonment. Justice Maisonville accepted the joint submission and imposed ten years, noting the premeditation and use of a firearm in a public place, and his guilty plea, remorse, youth at the time and difficult upbringing.
In the judge's words
1In all of the circumstances, I am acceding to the joint submission. It is an appropriate sentence. The public interest test is met. The sentence would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute or, otherwise, be contrary to the public interest.
The record
- Convicted of
- Attempted murder with a restricted or prohibited firearm (CC 239(1)(a))
- Prior convictions
- 32 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- On probation1
- Defence asked for
- 10 years in custody1
- Mandatory minimum
- Applied1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: K. Andani, K.C.
Defence: S.N. Dickson
Sources
- R. v. Reed, 2025 BCSC 2411 Court decision, CanLII, November 6, 2025
[19] I turn to the number of cases that were put before the Court. The Crown and defence have proposed a joint submission for sentence of ten years' imprisonment for the attempted murder.
[19] I turn to the number of cases that were put before the Court. The Crown and defence have proposed a joint submission for sentence of ten years' imprisonment for the attempted murder.
[22] A number of cases respecting similar sentences for attempted murder were also before the court. The minimum of five years to a life sentence is set out by the legislation with the range in the caselaw being from seven to 15 years.
[1] THE COURT: Following a plea inquiry, Richard Charles Reed pleaded guilty to the offence of attempted murder of
12. At the time of the shooting, Mr. Reed was under a probation order and firearms prohibition.
[7] The Crown notes that Mr. Reed, before the Court, is a person who had become institutionalized. He had 32 adult convictions before he committed this offence.
[38] In all of the circumstances, I am acceding to the joint submission. It is an appropriate sentence. The public interest test is met. The sentence would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute or, otherwise, be contrary to the public interest.
[39] In all of the circumstances, it is appropriate that it be ten years. You have a long and hard path ahead of you, but I accept your remorse and your desire to become a better human being. In all of the circumstances, I find the joint submission for ten years is appropriate.
- R. v. Reed, 2025 BCSC 2411 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia