A jury has found Lawrence Sharpe guilty of manslaughter in the 2017 one-punch death of a 22-year-old man at a Burnaby Starbucks.
Sharpe’s girlfriend Oldouz Pournouruz, who was facing the same charge on allegations she had incited and directed the attack, was found not guilty.
The court heard that Pournouruz had been sitting in her car in the parking lot of the Kensington Square Royal Bank, when Michael Page-Vincelli threw a lit cigarette at her in June 2017.
A witness testified that Page-Vincelli called Pournouruz a “dirty immigrant” and told her to go back to her country, at which point the incident escalated.
The court heard that Pournouruz replied that she would go get her boyfriend to beat up Page-Vincelli. Moments later, the fatal interaction occurred in a nearby Starbucks.
Surveillance video aired in the trial shows Sharpe entering the Royal Bank, then exiting when Pournouruz comes in to get him.
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Video from the Starbucks shows Page-Vincelli enter the cafe. Shortly afterwards, Sharpe and Pournouruz are seen entering the cafe.
Pournouruz points at Page-Vincelli, who is eating from a bag of chips, at which point Sharpe walks over and punches him in the face, knocking him to the floor. The couple then exits the cafe.
Page-Vincelli suffered a skull fracture when his head hit the floor and died in hospital.
In its closing arguments, the Crown told the jury Sharpe’s self-defence explanation should be rejected because it was inconsistent with the video evidence and what Sharpe told police.
The case has now been adjourned until May 1, for a pre-sentencing report.
-With files from Rumina Daya