A man who soccer-kicked a stranger in the head because he thought he was being disrespected by a person with brown skin has been handed an 18-month jail sentence for assault causing bodily harm in North Vancouver provincial court.
Judge Joanne Challenger sentenced Force McLellan Forsythe, 30, on June 16 for his attack on Philip Unger, a 53-year-old businessman, which took place in the parking lot of The Village at Park Royal near Whole Foods on Feb. 15, 2014.
Challenger said Forsythe needed a significant jail sentence to send a message that “unexpected and inexplicable violence” will not be tolerated by the court.
Challenger said the unprovoked nature of the attack, the fact it was in part racially motivated and the potential lethal use of force in what the judge referred to as a soccer kick to the victim’s head all pointed to the need for a significant sentence.
At an earlier sentencing hearing, the judge heard how Forsythe and his family were walking at a crosswalk in the parking lot while Unger, his wife and teenage daughter were driving home after shopping at Whole Foods. When Unger’s car approached the crosswalk, Forsythe spat on the windshield. When Unger got out of the vehicle, Forsythe ran at him and punched him “with sufficient force to take him off his feet,” said the judge. While Unger was still down on the pavement, Forsythe “kicked him with full force in the face,” she added.
Challenger described the attack as unprovoked, adding Forsythe was motivated by his own “delusory” belief that “he was being disrespected by someone with brown skin.” Forsythe perceived that Unger was a threat “because he believed him to be Middle Eastern or South Asian in heritage,” said the judge, “and that people from these cultures ‘don’t fight fair’ and ‘are likely to carry knives to a fight.’”
Unger was taken to hospital with a broken nose and split lip requiring 28 stitches. But Challenger said it could have been much worse, pointing out that many people who are punched or kicked in the head suffer serious brain injuries and even death.
Psychological reports pointed to Forsythe’s behavioural problems that prompted the attack as being “deeply entrenched,” said Challenger, adding his views had been “powerfully shaped by excessive exposure to hard-core pornography, rap music and violent sexist computer games.” The judge also noted Forsythe has a criminal history of significant violence, including convictions for criminal harassment, robbery, unlawful confinement and assault with a weapon.
Challenger sentenced Forsythe to 18 months in jail, with 60 days’ credit for time already spent in custody. She also placed him on three years’ probation with conditions that include taking counselling as directed, having no contact with Unger and his family, and a ban on alcohol and drugs, except those prescribed for him by a doctor.
