Perkin pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of London cab driver

A 24-year-old man charged in connection with the death of beloved London cab driver Vijay Bhatia has been sentenced to time served plus two years after pleading guilty Friday to manslaughter and assault.

Cody Perkin will have to serve half of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He has already served the equivalent of 808 days in custody.

Perkin was arrested in the early morning hours of April 29, 2017, shortly after Bhatia, 64, was located vital signs absent outside a Wonderland Road South convenience store, where the veteran cabbie had driven Perkin and his girlfriend.

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In an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court, Bhatia and Perkin became involved in a verbal altercation outside the store after the latter refused to pay the full cab fare. While Perkin’s girlfriend offered to pay the rest of the fare, Perkin became irate, and threatened to punch Bhatia, the court heard.

Short videos taken by the cab’s security cameras show Perkin’s girlfriend exit the cab first. Bhatia and Perkin can be seen continuing to argue before exiting the vehicle themselves. In another video, taken on a mobile phone by a bystander, Perkin is seen beating Bhatia. “Go back to India,” Perkin can be heard saying, in addition to another slur.

Following the altercation, Perkin fled to a nearby apartment building. While there, Perkin assaulted his girlfriend as the two of them waited for an elevator. He was arrested shortly after by police who had responded to the convenience store.

In the agreed statement of facts, the court heard a post-mortem examination later determined Bhatia had died of a heart attack, and not the physical injuries sustained in the assault, which were found to be minor in nature.

Bhatia’s death was considered to be homicide by heart attack, the court heard, and his death was largely precipitated by advanced heart disease. The stress of the assault triggered the heart attack that led to his death.

During the court hearing, three victim impact statements were read: one from a family-friend of Bhatia; another from Perkin’s girlfriend Desiree Armstrong-Stephens; and a final one from Bhatia’s daughter, Niharika. None were present, but their statements were read aloud by the Crown.

In her statement, Niharika said the death of her father had changed her.

“I’m unmotivated, cynical, and antisocial,” she said. “I have difficulty communicating my thoughts and feelings. I have panic attacks and feel discomfort in social settings.”

In court, Perkin’s lawyer, Zegers, described his client’s childhood as “dismal” and fraught with mistreatment that “started before he was even born.”

Perkin’s Mother, Zegers said, drank and used drugs while she was pregnant with him, and his parents separated soon after he was born, leaving him with no positive male role models and exposing him to neglect and substance abuse.

At the age of two, Perkin was taken out of his mother’s home and went to live with his grandmother. At five, he became a crown ward and was shuffled through foster homes for the next 11 years. At that time, he went to live with his mother but moved out when he was 18.

As a result of substance abuse, Zegers said Perkin’s heart was permanently damaged. While in custody, Perkin underwent open-heart surgery to repair a damaged valve. The irony was not lost on Justice George Orsini, who made note of the surgery in his sentencing.

Zegers pointed to Perkin’s drive to rehabilitate himself, noting he had maintained his sobriety while in custody and had completed multiple programs including a five-day anger management program and a substance abuse program three times over.

That being said, Perkin himself acknowledged his actions caused the heart attack that killed Bhatia.

Before learning his sentence, Perkin stood up and told the court how sorry he was for causing Bhatia’s death.

Perkin went on to say he hopes admitting his guilt and the resulting punishment will help the family heal.

“No sentence can express or account for the loss suffered by the Bhatia family,” said Justice Orsini before handing down the sentence.

Orsini referred to the victim impact statement given by Bhatia’s daughter, wherein she explains how she graduated with honours. Orsini said he was sure Bhatia would have been proud to see his daughter graduate with distinction but was never given the opportunity.

WATCH: Manslaughter sentencing underway in 2017 Saskatoon homicide

2:04 Manslaughter sentencing underway in 2017 Saskatoon homicide

Perkin has been in custody since April 29, 2017, and has served 539 actual days. But with no chance of parole during that time, 1.5 days is given for every day, making Perkin’s time served to 808.5 days, leaving him with 651.5 days left.

According to Zegers, that adds up to 21.7 months, but in order for Perkin to be able to access the services provided by the federal government, Zegers asked for a sentence of 24 months or two years. Sentences less than 24 months are sent to a provincial jail.

Perkin will not be eligible for parole until has served at least half of his sentence — one year. Orsini asked for Perkin’s input on the matter, and Perkin agreed to forgo the chance of earlier parole because he was committed to his rehabilitation.

Perkin was initially charged with second-degree murder in the case, but that charge was reduced. He was also charged with uttering threats but that charge was dropped.

Perkin was sentenced to 90 days for the assault charge, to be served concurrently with his other sentence.