Man given 5 years for killing panhandler

A Halifax man has been sentenced to five years in prison for beating a panhandler to death in 2004.

Trevor John Tower, 26, was sentenced in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday.

He was found guilty of manslaughter last June for a fight that led to the death of Bernard Grismajer, 50.

Halifax police arrested Grismajer on Nov. 19, 2004, for public intoxication. He was found dead in a cell at police headquarters several hours later.

An autopsy found he died of internal injuries sustained in a fight two days earlier.

The court heard that Tower hit Grismajer on the back with a pair of pruning shears, puncturing his spleen.

The Crown was seeking a 12-year sentence, while the defence asked for two years less a day.

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