Surrey man gets discharge for role in West Vancouver knife fight

A young man who produced a knife during an ugly confrontation between two groups of teens at Ambleside Park in May 2020 will avoid a criminal record for his role in the fight.

Akash Avin Ram, 20, of Surrey, will instead complete 35 hours of community work service and one year’s probation as part of a conditional discharge following his plea Friday (Dec. 17) to a count of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose in North Vancouver provincial court.

Ram was among two groups of teens who got into an altercation that escalated into a physical fight on May 9, 2020. Ultimately, one 17-year-old boy was slashed in the face with a knife, resulting in a serious injury.

Although Ram was not responsible for the knife attack, his decision to bring a knife to the fight rapidly escalated the situation, said provincial court Judge James Sutherland.

“Mr. Ram stepped up the seriousness of it by introducing a weapon,” said the judge. “Once a weapon has been introduced, bad things often happen.”

Crown counsel Adrienne Lee described how the confrontation between the groups of teens broke out on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in May when “the park was full of families.”

The fight started after members of Ram’s group took offence to comments made about two young women by members of the other group of teens, said Lee.

“There was pushing, shoving and name-calling between the two groups,” she said.

It was at that point that Ram produced a knife, she said. “It was an alarming and frightening situation.”

Eventually the two groups simmered down.

But then one 17-year-old decided to run over towards Ram’s group.

Someone slashed the teen across the face with a knife, resulting in a 15-centimetre cut that ran from the corner of his lip to his upper cheek, said Lee.

A lengthy police investigation followed, and a young man from Ram’s group was identified as responsible, said Lee. That person was never charged, however, because he died before the police investigation was concluded, she said.

The incident that day ended with the 17-year-old who had been slashed being taken to hospital.

Ram, two other young men and a young woman fled the scene and were stopped in a vehicle at Marine Drive and Taylor Way. All were arrested and two knives were found in the vehicle, said Lee.

Police said at the time of the incident none of those involved lived on the North Shore.

Ram’s defence lawyer Marvin Stern said his client, who was 18 at the time, has no criminal record.

In handing down his sentence, Sutherland said while Ram wasn’t responsible for the slashing, the circumstances underline the danger of introducing weapons to a fight. When that happens, “nothing good is going to happen and lots bad is probably going to happen,” he said.

As part of his probation order, Ram was ordered not to possess any knives outside his home and not to possess any weapons.