A Red Deer woman whose 18th birthday celebration ended in a shooting will start adulthood in a provincial jail.
Yolanda Cuthand and her boyfriend, Hamsa Abdilali Ibrahim, 26, were sentenced in provincial court on Friday morning for their roles in a shooting at the Gent’s Club in downtown Red Deer in the early morning hours of Sept. 22.
Court heard that Cuthand and Ibrahim had been celebrating her birthday when they were ejected from the club. The pair went to her car, from which Ibrahim retrieved a .357 Smith & Wesson handgun.
Cuthand moved the car to a nearby alley while Ibrahim ran back to the club, firing through the door and wounding two people.
Police recovered a quantity of cocaine and $6,830 in cash upon searching the pair’s home.
Co-accused and scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday morning, both agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges in relation to the Sept. 22 shooting.
Ibrahim also pleaded guilty to additional charges, including possession of cocaine for trafficking and two counts of assault committed in Red Deer on Aug. 19.
Judge Darrell Riemer, in passing sentence on Cuthand, said she had clearly made some unfortunate decisions, including her decision to become involved with Ibrahim and the subsequent “lack of judgment” she displayed on the day of the shooting.
Citing Ibrahim’s record of prior offences, Riemer noted an escalating pattern of violence starting with a robbery in Toronto on Sept. 17, 2007.
Riemer pointed to admissions of guilt and expressions of remorse as mitigating factors in sentencing both of the accused, including recommending that Ibrahim serve his sentence in the federal prison at Grande Cache, which offers trades programs to its inmates.
Ibrahim is to serve a seven-year global sentence, which includes seven years for shooting with intent to wound; five years for possession of coke intended for trafficking; two years each on charges of possession of the proceeds of crime, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm while under a prohibition, and 30 days on each of the two assault charges, minus 99 days for time served while awaiting trial.
Cuthand was sentenced as a party to two of the offences, including one day for assault with a weapon and one year for use of a weapon to commit an offence, to be served consecutively, minus 37 days for time served.
Cuthand was originally granted bail on her charges, but was taken back into custody after a weekend of freedom for breaching the terms of her release, which included that she have no contact with Ibrahim.
Both are required to submit samples of their DNA and are prohibited from owning firearms. Ibrahim’s prohibition is to for life while Cuthand’s prohibition is for a period of 10 years from the day of her release.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com
— copyright Red Deer Advocate