NANAIMO — Two men convicted of manslaughter last year will spend the next four to eight years behind bars.
Mark Jayden Harrison and Aiden Matthew William Bell, both 21 years old, were formally sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Tuesday, Feb. 19, nearly two and a half years after they assaulted and fatally stabbed Fred Parsons at Maffeo Sutton Park in September 2022.
Both Bell, who Crown argued committed the stabbing, and Harrison, who used bear spray during the attack, were sentenced to eight years in federal prison by justice Robin Baird, who called the level of violence used in the attack “planned, intentional and extreme.”
“Mr. Parsons was attacked and killed for no good reason at all except for whatever perverse satisfaction his assailants may have hoped to get from him,” Baird told court during Tuesday’s sentencing.
As part of the sentence, Harrison was credited with 1,343 days spent in custody after being locked up for 895 days since his arrest after the incident, while Bell received no pre-trial credit for his house arrest.
It means Harrison will just over another four years in prison, while Bell will serve the full eight years.
Baird added it wasn’t conclusively proven who the stabber was, but the detail was immaterial as both Bell and Harrison were found jointly culpable for the assault.
“In my view, the jury was perfectly justified in deciding, as I would have done if it were left to me, that both of these young men are equally criminally responsible for Mr. Parsons’ death.”
Baird described the assault as “utterly brainless and lethal thuggery” potentially fuelled by celebrating Bell’s 19th birthday, which was the day after the attack.
“It seems that random and gratuitous violence was his way of celebrating this special occasion.”
Typical sentence lengths range between four and 15 years for manslaughter convictions.
Police closed off a large section of Maffeo Sutton Park the day after the attack on Parsons, to conduct their investigation. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)Court heard during sentencing arguments in January, Parsons’ blood was found on Bell’s clothing the night in question.
An 11-member jury ultimately accepted the Crown’s version of events, which suggested a group of people entered then left the park around the time of the attack, later confirmed to include both Bell and Harrison.
The group was periodically spotted on surrounding security camera footage as they made their way to a downtown parkade where they were spotted by a friend of Harrison’s girlfriend.
The friend reported hearing the group say “we just stabbed someone”.
With no video footage of the attack itself, the Crown successfully argued beyond a reasonable doubt Bell and Harrison committed the crime, using the bloody jacket, witness testimony from after the incident as well as statements from Parsons’ friends who were with him the night he was killed.
Fred Parsons is remembered as a beloved son and friend. (submitted photo)A written statement from Fred’s mother said her family can properly grieve and heal after the untimely death of her son.
“There are no winners today. There is no sentence that can bring back my son,” she wrote. “The streets in Nanaimo will be safer with these two offenders behind bars and our family hopes the attackers participate in every prison program to help them re-enter society later as improved, kinder humans fit for society.”
She praised the work of the RCMP, who investigated Fred’s death, while acknowledging the “self-restraint and decorum” shown by family, friends and supporters over the lengthy court process.
“Important conversations to strengthen public safety continue to take place by changemakers and I am grateful for their work. Obviously, there is still much work to be done.”
She added her family will work to “pick up the pieces of our quiet lives” and are focusing on taking care of each other.
Aiden Bell, entering court in August 2024, while under house arrest during court proceedings. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)Local news. Delivered. Free. Subscribe to our daily news wrap and get our top local stories delivered to your email inbox every evening.
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