British Columbia

One-punch killer, Lawrence Sharpe, sentenced to 2 years and 6 days in prison

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Lawrence Sharpe, 42, was convicted of manslaughter in March, after killing Michael Page-Vincelli in 2017

Michael Page-Vincelli died from injuries he sustained after being punched unconscious, falling and hitting his head at a Starbucks in Burnaby on July 12, 2017. Lawrence Sharpe, 42, was found guilty of manslaughter in March. (Steffany Page/Facebook)

The man convicted of manslaughter in the one-punch death of Michael Page-Vincelli, 22, after an altercation in a Burnaby Starbucks parking lot in July, 2017, has been sentenced to two years and six days in prison, along with two years probation.

Lawrence Sharpe, 42, was convicted in March for punching Page-Vincelli in the head inside the coffee shop at Kensington Square.

The attack followed an argument that began in the parking lot between Page-Vincelli and Sharpe's girlfriend, Oldouz Pournouruz.

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A Crown prosecutor described the deadly blow as a roundhouse sucker punch. The court heard Page-Vincelli fell and hit his head on the floor hard enough to cause a fracture to his skull and bleeding around his brain. He was declared brain dead the following day and died two days later.

Lawyers on both sides had argued for no more than a three year prison term in the case.

On Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries handed down Sharpe's sentence, while family members from both Sharpe's and Page-Vincelli's families listened.

Sharpe's grandmother, who does not live in the area surprised her grandson with her attendance in court, and like Page-Vincelli's mother, dabbed tears from her eyes as she listened to the oral decision by Humphries.

Security video shows Page-Vincelli walking toward the door, snacking on a bag of chips, when Sharpe winds up to hit him

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Show more Surveillance video from a Starbucks in Burnaby, B.C., shows the deadly one-punch attack that killed 22-year-old Michael Page-Vincelli on July 12, 2017. 0:23

Sharpe sat nearly motionless, hunched over in the courtroom looking downward throughout the sentencing. He sat in the prisoner's box wearing a black suit jacket, vest and tie with fine black and white houndstooth dress slacks. He stood when asked by the judge to listen to the specific conditions of the sentence.

Sharpe waved to his family before being led away by a sheriff. Once Sharpe and the judge had left the courtroom, Page-Vincelli's mother, Steffany Page, broke down and wept, as family surrounded her and offered hugs.

Outside the courthouse, Page said, in her view, there hasn't been justice in her son's case.

"My gut says it's not fair. There will never be any justice for my son," she said, clutching a photo of a smiling Page-Vincelli and a large pin with "Love" printed on it.

Steffany Page, whose son, Michael Page-Vincelli, was killed in 2017 holds a picture of her son outside the Vancouver courthouse on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

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"You do everything you can to protect them and all of a sudden they take them away and all of a sudden two years? And they want you to be OK with it? There's no way," said Page. "When you lose a child, especially, you have every right to be angry."

Humphries said the jury did not accept that the punch was in self defence, and that Sharpe had told a police officer: "Somebody was bullying my girl, and I [expletive] clocked him for it."

The judge said she accepted that Sharpe feels remorse and is having difficulty dealing with what he's done.

Pournouruz, 35, Sharpe's girlfriend who had been involved in the parking lot argument over a flicked cigarette butt, was also charged with manslaughter in relation to Page-Vincelli's death.

She was acquitted in March.

Steffany Page says she doesn't feel justice has been served, after her son's killer was sentenced to two years and six days in federal prison. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

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