British Columbia man convicted of injuring woman’s face with gun barrel

A man has been sentenced to four years in prison for holding a gun to a woman’s face, leaving a scar, during an attempted robbery in Metro Vancouver.

Justin Hunt pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors for his actions in 2019, according to a provincial court ruling released Wednesday. Attempted robbery with a prohibited firearm, possession of an unloaded weapon and ammunition without a license, and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. He also pleaded guilty to violating a curfew order earlier this year.

He was sentenced to prison earlier this month by British Columbia provincial court judge Robin McQuillan.

On October 18, 2019, Hunt and two accomplices followed two individuals out of a pub in Port Coquitlam to rob them.

Melissa Latorre and her male friend refused to hand over their wallets when Hunt demanded it. He responded by punching and kicking Latorre’s friend. Hunt then pulled out a loaded handgun and struck Latorre in the forehead when she stopped him from taking her purse.

“She was left with a bleeding wound on her forehead that was consistent in size and shape with the barrel of the firearm,” the judge said in his ruling.

After the incident, Hunt and his accomplices ran away and the police were called to the scene. After a few hours of investigation, the police arrested two people, one of whom was Hunt.

Latorre’s victim impact statement said she had trouble sleeping after the incident.

“She always wore sunglasses and a hat when she went outside because she was terrified that the perpetrator would see her and hurt her again,” the judge said.

McQuillan says the victim still feels “traumatized” by the incident.

“She is reminded of the incident whenever she looks in the mirror. Almost 5 years later, the scar is still there and she is considering expensive scar removal surgery,” he said.

According to McQuillan, while searching for the two individuals, police discovered a number of illegal items in their vehicle.

The items include the following:

• A wallet containing Hunt’s identification and receipt for the purchase of Glock bullets,
• $5,000 cash
• A Blackberry phone with Hunt’s fingerprints
• A bag containing methamphetamine and cocaine weighing 6.65 grams
• A bag containing a Glock pistol, along with a loaded magazine
• A Ruger pistol with a loaded magazine
• A plastic shopping bag containing 117.6 grams of cocaine packed in small individual bags

The judge said an expert later determined that the cocaine seized from the trunk of the vehicle had a street value of approximately $9,400.00.

Dr. Bartel, a psychologist assigned to evaluate Hunt, said he has a “long history of profitable employment and prosocial involvement” but noted a history of substance abuse, prior violence, failed supervision and “young age at first violence.”

“Dr. Bartel believes that Mr. Hunt is at low to moderate risk of committing violent crimes and/or criminal offenses in the future. Should he return to a lifestyle of binge drinking and drug use and association with negative peers, that risk would increase significantly,” the judge said.

McQuillan said Hunt was remorseful for his actions and said he did not want the victim to be re-traumatised if he had to give evidence. He said he was “heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs” at the time of the incident and is confident the offence would not have happened if he had been sober.

Based on Hunt’s history, psychological assessments and his statements, he was sentenced to four years in prison, a 10-year ban on owning firearms and a lifetime ban on owning prohibited firearms, weapons, devices or ammunition.