Gay News from London

Ryan Cran gets mere six years for Aaron Webster gay bashing murder

Ryan Cran, the young man convicted of manslaughter in the beating death of British Columbia gay man Aaron Webster (shown), has been sentenced to six years in prison for his part in the attack. We told you with a sense of outrage when the hate crime designation was dropped. We told you in December of the injustice when Cran was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. In his sentencing yesterday British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries said the attack on Webster was a "random, cowardly and terrifying act." Webster had been beaten to death in Vancouver's Stanley Park using baseball bats, a pool cue and a golf club before leaving the 41-year-old photographer's body naked except for his hiking boots. The city's gay community has criticized the sentence given to the man described as the ringleader. Activists and the victim's family wanted the case treated as a hate crime, which could have brought a more severe penalty. Justice Mary Humphries said, "What is so chilling about his case is this group seems to have done this for some reprehensible and almost inconceivable concept of entertainment."
Aaron Webster Murder[Date: 09-Feb-05 ]