FIVE YEARS FOR BREAK-IN, SHOOTING DURING GROW RIP

A 20-year-old Surrey man has been given five years in jail for a violent
home invasion that sent a 70-year-old to hospital with a
non-life-threatening bullet wound.

Robert Joshua Achadinha was one of four people who kicked in the door of a
house in the 14300 block of Kindersley Dr. on Jan. 9 and pepper-sprayed the
70-year-old homeowner and his wife.

It was a marijuana "grow rip" that didn't go according to plan, according to
evidence presented by Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson, who said the older
man grabbed a machete and drove the home invaders outside.

During the struggle, Achadinha shot the homeowner in the chest and he and
his associates fled the scene.

Without calling police, the wife drove her husband to Surrey Memorial
Hospital, where a surgeon removed a bullet that had lodged near the man's
spine.

Hospital staff notified Surrey RCMP and turned over the bullet.

By the time officers arrived at the Kindersley Dr. house, it had been
ransacked by the returning robbers who reasoned the pot-growing residents
wouldn't call police.

The crooks stole the marijuana plants in the house and various valuables
including a karaoke machine.

Later, it was learned the robbers had taken the gear back to their house and
held a sing-a-long with the stolen karaoke.

When police caught up with Achadinha eight days after the shooting, he
pleaded guilty to breaking and entering and was ordered held in jail until
sentencing.

During the two days of the Surrey court hearing, prosecutor Sayson described
the violent robbery as the "worst kind of B&E" there is and called for a
sentence of five to six years, while Achadinha's lawyer argued for a lesser
four-year term, saying his client was defending himself from "death or
bodily harm" when he shot the homeowner.

On Wednesday, Surrey Provincial Court Judge T. Dennis Devitt imposed a
five-year term, less 13 months credit for time already served. Sayson said
he hopes the verdict will serve as a deterrent to marijuana grow rippers and
growers alike.

"They must know that the police will investigate all home invasions, the
Crown will prosecute ... and the courts will impose heavy sentences on those
who commit this type of crime," Sayson said.