A Vancouver man sentenced to three years’ probation for four random assaults over four weeks in 2022, will spend more time in custody, followed by two years’ probation for attacking another stranger last fall and assaulting a supportive housing worker earlier this year.
Shakwan Kelly, 30, was sentenced to 11.5 months in jail on Wednesday after pleading guilty in May to two separate assaults, uttering threats and breaching his release order.
With credit for time already spent in custody, Kelly has 39 days left to serve.
B.C. Provincial Court Judge James Sutherland endorsed a joint submission from Crown and defence counsel for a sentence aimed at giving Kelly, who struggles with mental illness and drug use, the best chance at maintaining sobriety and engaging with a treatment team.
The court heard how Kelly suddenly punched a woman in the back of the head for no reason as she walked home with groceries on the afternoon of Nov. 21, 2024.
Vancouver police said the random attack happened in the 700 block of Richards Street.
A bystander came to the victim’s aid and was able to snap a photo of the suspect, said Crown prosecutor Christie Lusk.
Kelly was arrested Nov. 24, and released on Jan. 22 under conditions that he abide by house arrest at a supportive housing building.
The court heard that Kelly checked in at Tamura House on Jan. 22 but left the property soon after.
On Jan. 24, his whereabouts were unknown from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., the Crown said.
On Feb. 15, Kelly threatened a staff member who confronted him about leaving the facility.
Kelly was arrested on Feb. 24 after he spat at another staff member and struck him twice in the face, before leaving.
Crown told the court that Kelly became angry about not being allowed a second helping of breakfast.
None of the three victims provided victim impact statements to the court, but the Crown said the Tamura House worker who was assaulted has said he forgives Mr. Kelly.
Kelly remains the subject of a three-year probation order following the time served sentence he received in March 2023 for pleading guilty to four assaults in the span of one month in 2022.
Between June 19 and July 19, 2022, Kelly punched two security guards at Vancouver General Hospital, punched a woman on board a city bus, punched a man on a SkyTrain, and punched and kicked a mental health resource worker at the Kettle Friendship Society.
Kelly also pleaded guilty to obstructing a peace officer on July 9, 2022, in an incident where the Crown said he ran from police and slammed into a mother and her two-year-old toddler on the sidewalk outside a gym in Chinatown.
The mother fell to the ground and struck her head while her child suffered scrapes and was OK.
Kelly had been doing well in the community until last November, said Lusk.
The court heard he recently refused his injection for schizophrenia and is subject to a Mental Health Act (MHA) warrant.
Once he is released from custody, Crown and defence counsel said Kelly, who is certified under the MHA, will be taken to hospital.
Kelly’s lawyer, Jessica Dawkins, said finding supportive housing that’s a good fit has been a struggle for her client.
Kelly was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 18 and has been on extended leave in recent years, she said.
In B.C., extended leave means a person continues to be certified under the MHA after discharge from hospital or a designated mental health facility, and is supported by a community mental health team.
“If the person is not able to follow the care or treatment plan in place, the mental health team has the ability to admit the person back to hospital,” states the Fraser Health website.
Lusk told the court Kelly is on the wait list to get into the Red Fish Healing Centre, a provincial facility in Coquitlam for clients with complex and concurrent mental health and substance use disorders.
Dawkins noted the wait to access the 105-bed facility can be anywhere from two months to a year, but added that Kelly’s mother is a strong source of support, and is doing everything in her power to get her son the help he needs.