DRUG COOKER GETS FOUR YEARS FOR BURNING CHILD, WOMAN

MONCTON, N.B. (CP)-- A New Brunswick man has been handed a four-year prison
sentence for a fire that broke out while he was trying to make drugs,
injuring a five-year-old boy and the child's mother.

Calvin Andrew Lewis, 33, of Moncton, was found guilty of arson by
negligence, production of a narcotic and criminal negligence, resulting in
burns to the boy and his mother.

Justice George Rideout sentenced Lewis to four years, but he was credited
with a year already served.

At his trial, it was determined Lewis was trying to cook marijuana to
produce marijuana oil on Jan. 6, 2003, in a trailer owned by the boy's
mother, when the pot ignited.

Lewis attempted to throw the contents out, but the burning liquid hit the
two victims.

The woman sustained moderate injuries; however, the boy was severely
burned. He is still in rehabilitation.

The court heard a victim impact statement from other members of the boy's
family yesterday which stated he continues to suffer as he recovers from
his wounds, is "made fun of at school" and considers himself to be ugly.

"I never meant to hurt the kid," Lewis told the court. "I wasn't the one
who turned the stove on red-hot."

The judge decided not to give Lewis double credit for the time he had
already served in prison, as is commonly done.

The judge cited the rarely used 'denunciation' factor in his sentencing.

Courts will sometimes denounce a crime if it is considered particularly
heinous and offensive.