Prison will not be easy for convicted criminal Iqbal Singh Vinepal, who is diabetic and had a heart attack while in custody. It was revealed that Vinepal has already been beaten twice by younger men while awaiting trial.
SURREY – An Indo-Canadian man from Surrey man who stabbed another man to death and seriously injured a woman two years ago was sentenced last Thursday to eight years in jail.
Iqbal Singh Vinepal, 56, killed Naib Singh Toor in a dispute on Aug. 13, 2010 that also left Razia Salaam, reportedly Vinepal’s ex-girlfriend, disfigured.
He was originally charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder, but in July, was found guilty of the lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.
Because he received credit for time already spent in custody, Vinepal will spend another six years and three months in jail. He is also subject to a lifetime weapons ban.
The attack took place in Vinepal’s home in the 12800-block 99th Avenue in the Whalley neighbourhood. The victims, 43-year-old Salaam and her boyfriend, Toor, 33, had a disagreement and Vinepal stabbed Salaam in the chest and slashed her neck and face. Toor died from two stab wounds.
According to testimony at trial, Vinepal and Toor had been drinking.
Crown has asked for a sentence of eight to 10 years in prison, while the defence has suggested four to seven years. The sentence works out to six years and three months, taking into account time served.
“He minimizes and denies his violent behaviour,” Justice Paul Williamson said Thursday, in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. “Rehabilitation will take some time.”
But the judge felt that Vinepal was too drunk to be charged with second degree murder.
Crown prosecutor Liane O’Grady argued that Vinepal attacked the couple with a filleting knife with a 20-centimetre-long blade, “a particularly vicious weapon.”
Vinepal cornered both of his victims and didn’t let up on the attack until they were both down. Toor died on the dining room floor and Salaam suffered life-threatening wounds and disfiguring cuts, reported the Surrey Now newspaper.
“Every time she looks in the mirror she’ll be reminded of the attack,” O’Grady said. “It left long-lasting scars both on her body and on her mind.”
O’Grady noted that in recent years Vinepal had made 156 emergency 911 calls but this time, when he really should have called, he didn’t bother.
“Had he called 911 it may have saved the life of Mr. Toor,” she said. Instead, Vinepal went to bed.
But before he did, he threatened to cut up the couple and put them in his freezer downstairs, so he could eat them later. He also gave Salaam two pillows, for her comfort. Williamson found this contradictory behaviour “bizarre.”
O’Grady charged that Vinepal feels no remorse and doesn’t believe he has an alcohol problem. Toor’s blood alcohol content was four and a half times over the legal driving limit and Vinepal had been in a similar state.
The court heard Vinepal had prior convictions for impaired driving and assault, and breached his bail on three counts in this case. All of his crimes were related to his “entrenched alcohol addiction,” O’Grady said.
Prison will not be easy for Vinepal, who is diabetic and had a heart attack while in custody. . It was revealed that Vinepal has already been beaten twice by younger men while awaiting trial.
