A student at the University of British Columbia (UBC) who was sentenced to jail time for participating in the Vancouver riots will be allowed to serve his time on weekends, in order to complete his political science degree, according to court documents.
Alexander Peepre was officially sentenced Sept. 13 to 60 days in jail after being convicted of destruction of property and assault while participating in the Vancouver riots on June 15, 2011.
The highly publicized riots occurred following the Vancouver Canucks’ loss in the Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins.
The official court ruling released by the provincial court of British Columbia estimated that nearly $3.7 million in damage had been done that night, excluding over 85 incidents that had not been reported.
According to Peepre’s account, he had watched the hockey game at the Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver’s Chinatown, and left with his friends shortly before the game ended, having consumed around 16-18 beers that day.
He participated in the damaging and overturning of a GMC vehicle parked outside a Canada Post office, a vehicle that belonged to Roy Hermanus, who had been restoring it to present as a graduation gift to his son.
The night did not end there, as Peepre stopped to mock a police officer who was serving in the riot line.
Following this, he made contact with Cameron Brown, a photographer and publicly-named good samaritan who was extinguishing the fires that other rioters had set to a couple of garbage cans.
Brown was punched from behind by someone else, at which time Peepre bent down and punched Brown “in the face or head area,” according to the court documents.
Peepre was at the riot for a little over 45 minutes and returned that night to his residence and admits to have realized that “he’d made a terrible mistake.”
He made significant changes to his life following this event, including taking private anger management counselling with Moose Anger Management in November 2011, as well as attending AA meetings, according to the court document.
The court document stated that “because of the positive steps [Peepre] has taken to change his behavior, his extensive support network and the shame and remorse he has expressed, he is considered a low risk to reoffend.”
Peepre held no previous criminal record prior to this event, according to the court document.
All of these facts were taken under consideration by the judge, which is why Peepre was granted the ability to continue on with his pursuit of a political science degree while serving his time on the weekends.
Every Friday at 7 p.m., Peepre will report to a prison and will remain there until Sunday at 5 p.m. He will also have a probationary period of 18 months and 125 hours of community work service.
The judge noted that one of the mitigating factors that prompted leniency was him being “subject to intense social and conventional media scrutiny.”
