Man sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for Vancouver NYE machete attacks

A man who slashed a stranger in the face with a machete in downtown Vancouver two years ago has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

The BC Prosecution Service the sentence handed to Cruz Thomas Joseph on Wednesday included a lifetime firearms ban.

The attack unfolded on Dec. 31, 2020 near Granville and Helmcken streets.

0:32 Vancouver man arrested and charged for June machete attack

At the time, Vancouver police said the suspect walked up to a stranger, unprovoked, and “slashed the victim in the face with a machete.”

A second man said he was hit over the head with a machete a short time later when a man demanded his speaker, leaving him with a gash requiring multiple stitches.

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Joseph faced multiple charges in the attacks.

Prosecutors said he was sentenced to time served on charges of uttering threats and committing an offence while in possession of an imitation firearm.

He was sentenced to 3.5 years on a robbery charge, to be served concurrently with a two-year and 1.5-year sentence on a pair of assault causing bodily harm charges.