Toronto reservists sentenced to 15 years total for beating of homeless man
Last Updated: Thursday, May 1, 2008 | 4:25 PM ET
CBC News
Two reserve soldiers who pleaded guilty to killing a man in a downtown Toronto park in 2005 have been sentenced to a total of more than 15 years in jail.
Brian Deganis, 23, and Jeffery Hall, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this month to reduced charges of manslaughter. On Thursday, Hall was sentenced to 10 years and eight months, while Deganis got five years and six months.
Deganis's sentence takes into account the two-plus years he has been in jail since his September 2005 arrest. Hall had been out on bail.
A third reservist, Mountaz Ibrahim, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 10 months.
Hall and Deganis are also prohibited from owning guns, firearms and ammunition for life, while Ibrahim will not be allowed to possess the items for 10 years.
All three also pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting Valerie Valen, who witnessed the beating.
The soldiers were originally charged with first-degree murder. But after a preliminary hearing, the charges were reduced to second-degree murder. Last month, the three men pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charges.
Paul Croutch, 59, a father and former community newspaper publisher, was kicked to death as he slept on a park bench in Moss Park near Sherbourne and Shuter streets in August 2005.
The attack happened at around 4 a.m.
According to Crown prosecutors, one of the accused was overheard saying he hated homeless people and wanted to take them on.
It was after that the reservists went to the park and committed the attack.
All three men had been drinking heavily at a function at the nearby Moss Park Armoury.
The jury was told that Croutch was punched and kicked so hard that his body landed almost a metre behind the bench where he was sleeping.
Man used as 'punching bag'
Superior Court Judge Eugene Ewaschuk said the attack on the homeless man was "sadistic" and carried out "with military precision."
"They used him as a combination punching bag and soccer ball," he said.
The brutality of the killing shocked people in Toronto.
It was not only the violence against a vulnerable man that caught people's attention, but also the fact that three Canadian Forces reservists were accused of the fatal assault. All of the men were trained combat soldiers. They served as reserve members of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, an airborne infantry unit based at the armoury.
An autopsy showed Croutch suffered head injuries likely caused by punching, kicking or stomping.
A Canadian Forces spokesman said Thursday the trio were suspended shortly after their arrests and will soon be discharged from service.
With files from the Canadian Press
