Alok Gupta saw Canada as the country of his dreams.
The 29-year-old immigrated from India to study business at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where he excelled as a student, and planned to find work the financial sector, get married an start a family in Canada.
His plans, however, were cut short when he was shot during a robbery at the Surrey convenience store where he worked part time.
“It turned out to be the country of our doom,” Gupta’s father, Hari Vansh Gupta, wrote in a victim-impact statement read in B.C. Provincial Court in Surrey Thursday.
William Andrew Whiteside, 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm in connection with Gupta’s death. He also admitted to robbery with a firearm for an unrelated incident a few days later.
On Christmas Day 2011, Gupta worked a shift at Ken’s Groceries in the 11000-block of 96th Avenue. He was not scheduled to work that day, but agreed to work an evening shift as a favour to the owner so he could spend the holiday with his family.
Shortly after 4 p.m. Whiteside and two friends drove up to the store. They had run out of money after partying all night and Whiteside had driven them to the store in order to rob it.
Whiteside had a loaded sawed-off rifle — which he had found a couple of days earlier — tucked into his clothes. He and a male friend walked into the store and Whiteside pointed the gun at Gupta, who was behind the counter. Gupta put his hands in the air and Whiteside told him not to move.
Whiteside’s friend took cash from the register and Whiteside tried to take cigarettes from behind the counter, but changed his mind. Whiteside’s friend left.
Whiteside was about to walk out when Gupta made a sound. Whiteside was startled and turned toward Gupta with his finger on the trigger of the gun. The gun discharged, hitting Gupta in the chest.
Whiteside fled and the robbers drove away in a car Whiteside had stolen the night before. They ended up with between $45 and $65, which they spent on speed.
Gupta went to a neighbour’s house for help. When the resident opened the door, Gupta, who was covered in blood and clutching his chest, said “Please help me” and then collapsed. Gupta was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 5 p.m.
Whiteside maintains that he brought the gun to the store to scare the clerk and had no intention of killing anyone. He has been unable to explain how the gun went off.
Crown prosecutor Wendy Dawson called the crime “totally senseless.”
“For that small amount of money a wonderful, kind man with a bright future died,” she said.
Crown and defence made a joint submission for a 16-year prison sentence.
Dawson cited a number of aggravating factors, including the fact that the robbery was planned, the fact that Whiteside was violating his parole and was prohibited from possessing any weapons, Whiteside’s extensive criminal record and his high risk to reoffend violently.
“He is directly and solely responsible for causing this tragedy and causing a lifetime of grief for Mr. Gupta’s family,” Dawson said.
Four days after shooting Gupta, and using the same gun, Whiteside and two other men robbed the Old Yale Grocery Store in Surrey.
The three men arrived about a half-hour after the store opened and barged through the door wearing masks.
The first man through the door pointed the gun at the clerk and ordered him to the floor. When the clerk lay down, the man with the gun stood on his back.
The other two men, one of whom was Whiteside, took money from the register and cigarettes.
They fled in a waiting vehicle.
Later that day, police responding to a fight at a fast-food restaurant on King George Boulevard detained Whiteside and found that he was carrying the rifle and ammunition.
Crown and defence submitted that Whiteside should be sentenced to five years in prison, to be served concurrently with the manslaughter sentence.
Defence lawyer Garry MacDonald will make his submissions on April 9.
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