GROW RIPPER PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER

A 20-year-old Surrey man has pled guilty to manslaughter in a deadly break-in
at a marijuana growing operation on No. 4 Road a year ago.

Milad Saffari was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the Crown
agreed to amend the charge to manslaughter following Saffari's preliminary
hearing late last month.

Saffari pled guilty to manslaughter on Aug. 27 and faces a maximum life
sentence. A pre-sentencing report has been ordered and he is scheduled to be
sentenced in Richmond Provincial Court on Jan. 23, 2004.

Saffari was with Vancouver's Parminder Singh Soor, 19, and at least two other
youths when they broke into a house at 8391 No. 4 Rd., just south of Blundell
Road. On Wednesday, Soor was sentenced to six months in jail, received a
one-year term of probation and a 10-year firearms ban for breaking and entering
with intent to commit an indictable offence.

The grow rippers expected to find a sizable marijuana growing operation inside
the house (more than 500 plants were later found by the Richmond RCMP) but what
they didn't anticipate was meeting with resistance.

A 41-year-old Vancouver man, Vi Soi Hoang, was apparently tending the grow-op
and was beaten to death in front of the house. Saffari pled guilty to killing
Hoang.

Two teenaged boys, a 17 year old from Richmond and a 16-year-old from
Vancouver, were originally charged with manslaughter and murder respectively.

The Richmond youth has pled guilty to a lesser charge while the Vancouver youth
is scheduled to appear in Richmond Youth Court for his preliminary hearing on
Oct. 14 for second-degree murder.

The names of the two accused cannot be published under provisions of the Young
Offenders Act.

At least one member of the group had staked out the house prior to the
break-in, according to testimony given during Saffari's preliminary hearing.

Richmond RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said the problem of marijuana grow ops
continue in Richmond.

Cultivators are now more commonly using high-rise apartment buildings to grow
crops of B.C. bud, in some cases using several units within the same building.

Grow rips continue to be a police concern, but the number of marijuana
break-ins seems to have slowed somewhat.

Asked about the stiff jail sentence for the break-in and the guilty pleas
entered in connection with the incident, Thiessen said: "We're hoping that
that's going to be a deterrent. Generally, we think the court needs to send a
strong message."

Thiessen noted that the Richmond RCMP devoted a substantial amount of resources
to this investigation. And judging from the guilty pleas, Thiessen said it's
clear that investigators identified, arrested and charged the right people.