A man who brutally attacked two vacationing sisters from Alberta who had rented his Vancouver Airbnb has won’t serve any additional time behind bars.
On Thursday, Arvin Pasha was handed a 22-month conditional sentence to be served in the community, followed by three years of probation.
Pasha pleaded guilty in September to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm for the attack three years ago.
Pasha had initially been charged with aggravated assault, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charges just days before his trial was scheduled to begin.
In handing down the sentence, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Harbans Dhillon noted Pasha had no prior criminal record, accepted responsibility with his guilty plea, had performed well on bail and had abstained from cannabis use.
The court has previously heard that the 23- and 25-year-old victims were staying at Pasha’s short-term rental on West 3rd Avenue in Kitsilano when the May 27, 2022, attack took place.
According to an agreed statement of facts entered in court, Pasha was living in the two-bedroom apartment at the time and renting out one room on Airbnb; the sisters were unaware he would also be staying there.
The court heard that Pasha was heard saying “they’re torturing my cat,” and “they baited all the cats in the neighbourhood,” while pacing in the hallway outside the unit with a 30-cm knife early on the morning of the attack.
The court heard he then broke into the unit. One of the sisters was stabbed in the head, neck and arm, while the other was stabbed in her head, neck and hand.
Victim impact statements from both sisters read during Pasha’s sentencing hearing in February recounted the lasting impacts of the attacks, both physically and emotionally.
Pasha’s lawyer had sought a conditional discharge, which would have left him with no criminal record should he adhere to conditions, arguing his client suffered a mental breakdown on the day of the attack brought on by heavy cannabis use and has an “unspecified psychotic disorder.”
The Crown argued a discharge is contrary to the public interest, given the extreme violence of the offence, but did not seek additional jail time either, acknowledging Pasha’s mental illness left him with a “lessened moral culpability.”
Dhillon agreed with the Crown.
“A discharge would fail to adequately communicate to members of the public who are users of recreational psychoactive substances that there are liable to be adverse criminal justice consequences if their involuntary ingestion of excessive psychoactive substances causes or contributes to serious harm,” she said.
Under the terms of Pasha’s conditional sentence, he must live with his mother in Richmond and abide by an overnight curfew for the first 12 months.
He’s also banned from using alcohol or drugs or possessing weapons, and cannot make contact with the victims.