Attempted robbery
R. v. Prokopchuk
- On release at the time
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Christopher David Prokopchuk pleaded guilty to attempted robbery of a credit union in Surrey in 2021, committed while he was on release from a federal sentence. The Crown applied to have him declared a dangerous offender with an indeterminate sentence; Justice Norell dismissed that application, found him a long-term offender and imposed five and a half years, less 1,265 days of credit at one-to-one, followed by a 10-year long-term supervision order. The judge found there was a reasonable possibility of eventual control of his risk in the community if he engaged with a proposed psychiatric treatment plan.
In the judge's words
1The protection of the public and Mr. Prokopchuk's needs require in‑custody treatment and programming. A sentence must be long enough to enable this to take place.
The record
- Convicted of
- Attempted robbery (CC 463(a)/344(1)(b))
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- On parole1
- Defence asked for
- 4 years in custody1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: T.J. Dotten
Defence: B. Movassaghi
Sources
- R. v. Prokopchuk, 2025 BCSC 2641 Court decision, CanLII, December 12, 2025
[185] Mr. Prokopchuk's counsel suggests that four to six years is the range less credit for pre-sentence custody.
[1] THE COURT: Mr. Prokopchuk was charged on Indictment 84520‑2 with one count of robbery alleged to have been committed on September 11, 2021, in Surrey, B.C. On July 24, 2023, Mr. Prokopchuk pleaded guilty to the included offence of attempted robbery contrary to s. 344(1)(b) and s. 463(a) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 [Code].
[188] The aggravating factors are that Mr. Prokopchuk committed this offence while on parole, where he almost immediately went unlawfully at large after being released.
[191] The protection of the public and Mr. Prokopchuk's needs require in‑custody treatment and programming. A sentence must be long enough to enable this to take place.
[199] On Indictment 84520, Count 1, in the included offence of attempted robbery for which you have pled guilty, I sentence you to five-and-a-half years in custody, or 2,008 days, less pre-sentence credit of one-to-one of 1,265 days. The sentence imposed is 743 days in custody, being two years and 13 days.
- Criminal Code, s. 463 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. Prokopchuk, 2025 BCSC 2641 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia