JUDGE SLAMS DEALER

A provincial court judge gave an unusually stiff sentence to a minor
for trafficking "hard" drugs at the skateboard park near the
Abbotsford Recreation Centre.

The 18-year-old youth pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and
heroin for the purpose of trafficking after selling drugs to an
undercover officer.

Judge Kenneth Skilnick noted the offender and his associates chose to
deal drugs in the "heart of an area frequented by children and
adolescents."

He sentenced the young man, who cannot be named, to deferred custody
and a supervision order of six months for the offence.

Although the young offender did not commit a violent crime and had no
criminal record, Skilnick said the court should be a leader for the
community in not tolerating this type of drug dealing.

"I am satisfied that the trafficking of hard drugs in this community
in a location frequented by so many vulnerable youth, ought never be
considered to be routine or usual," he wrote.

"Rather it is an offence that ought to shock the community."