A man who fell from the 11th floor of a Burnaby apartment building during a suspected kidnapping four years ago has been handed a conditional sentence – in part because of “life-lasting injuries” he sustained during the fall.
“Mr. Abdullahi in his state now will experience incarceration far more harshly than an able-bodied young man,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janet Winteringham said at the sentencing of 36-year-old Abdullah Abdullahi and his co-accused, Abdulkadir Handule, 27, in Vancouver Tuesday.
The men were found guilty last June of forcible confinement in a suspected kidnapping in July 2019.
On July 4, 2019, tactical officers descended on an 11th-floor apartment at 4960 Sanders St. at about 10:20 p.m. to rescue a man they believed had been kidnapped at the Metrotown mall two days earlier, according to B.C. Supreme Court documents.
“Many of the residents were frightened by the heavily armed police presence,” Winteringham said Tuesday. “Mr. Handule and Mr. Abdullahi’s conduct had a traumatizing effect on more than (the victim). Residents have a right to feel safe in their homes, and Mr. Handule and Mr. Abdullahi intruded in what should be a sanctuary.”
By the time police entered the apartment, the suspects had fled through the balcony door.
Handule, who was 23 at the time, managed to scale down the outside of the building and was arrested on a fifth-floor balcony, with a loaded Glock semi-automatic pistol at his feet.
But Abdullahi, who was then 32, fell from the 11th-floor balcony into a rhododendron bush, sustaining “life-lasting” injuries.
Because of a spinal cord injury, he now needs a cane, has to wake up every two hours to manage bowel and bladder incontinence, and needs his spouse’s help to shave, shower and dress, according to information presented in court.
He also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“There is no doubt that his injuries are debilitating and lifelong,” Winteringham said.
She sentenced Handule to six years in prison but handed Abdullahi a two-year conditional sentence, including a year of house arrest followed by a year under a 9 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew, and two years of probation.
For the first 18 months of his sentence, he will have an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Besides Abdullahi’s injuries, Winteringham noted he had played a “marginally lesser” role in the offence than Handule, who was more directly linked to a firearm used during the forcible confinement, according to the judge.
Abdullahi has also taken “stronger steps” towards rehabilitation, Winteringham said, and has successfully lived for four years under the “most stringent” bail conditions – house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Handule, meanwhile, is already serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 20 years for the shooting deaths of Toronto rapper Jahvante Smart (a.k.a. Smoke Dawg) and hip-hop brand manager Ernest Modekwe outside the Cube nightclub in Toronto’s entertainment district on June 30, 2018.
A bystander was also shot in the brazen daylight shooting.
Winteringham said those convictions “weigh against” his prospects for rehabilitation.
“In sum, the two offenders, while they are convicted for similar conduct, they are ultimately not similarly situated.”
Handule’s six-year sentence will run parallel to his life sentence.
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