A Hamilton man has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a B.C. Hells Angel at the Vancouver airport.
Knowah Ferguson, 21, also pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit the murder of an unknown person in June 2015.
The guilty pleas came after a judge dismissed an application by Ferguson’s lawyers to exclude evidence due to police breaching the accused’s rights. Ferguson’s trial was to have started May 28 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Court heard that police suspected two people in Hamilton were hiring youth to commit shootings and that the accused, who was a teen at the time, was one of the youths being hired.
Ferguson was accused of approaching Hells Angel Damion Ryan in April 2015 while Ryan was seated at a table with another male in a food court at the airport and pulling out a firearm.
There was a clicking sound and the gun failed to fire after which the three people at the scene, including Ferguson, took off running.
The murder conspiracy related to Ferguson conspiring with an associate who can only be identified as Witness X due to a publication ban, as well as others, to kill the unknown person.
Ferguson was taken into custody along with two other young men when a suspected stolen vehicle they were in was pulled over by Vancouver police near Main Street and East 10th Avenue on June 14, 2015.
When police searched the vehicle, they found firearms and ammunition, including three handguns, an AK-47 assault rifle and a silencer.
As a result of evidence gathered during the investigation, police became convinced of Ferguson’s involvement in the attempted murder and murder conspiracy.
During the pre-trial proceedings, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten dealt with several allegations that police had violated Ferguson’s rights.
While there was a lawful warrant to search various mobile devices, the accused’s lawyers established that the manner in which certain BlackBerry cellphones containing encrypted messages were searched had breached the accused’s rights.
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/hamilton-man-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-murder-of-b-c-hells-angel
Knowah Ferguson, 21, also pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit the murder of an unknown person in June 2015.
The guilty pleas came after a judge dismissed an application by Ferguson’s lawyers to exclude evidence due to police breaching the accused’s rights. Ferguson’s trial was to have started May 28 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Court heard that police suspected two people in Hamilton were hiring youth to commit shootings and that the accused, who was a teen at the time, was one of the youths being hired.
Ferguson was accused of approaching Hells Angel Damion Ryan in April 2015 while Ryan was seated at a table with another male in a food court at the airport and pulling out a firearm.
There was a clicking sound and the gun failed to fire after which the three people at the scene, including Ferguson, took off running.
The murder conspiracy related to Ferguson conspiring with an associate who can only be identified as Witness X due to a publication ban, as well as others, to kill the unknown person.
Ferguson was taken into custody along with two other young men when a suspected stolen vehicle they were in was pulled over by Vancouver police near Main Street and East 10th Avenue on June 14, 2015.
When police searched the vehicle, they found firearms and ammunition, including three handguns, an AK-47 assault rifle and a silencer.
As a result of evidence gathered during the investigation, police became convinced of Ferguson’s involvement in the attempted murder and murder conspiracy.
During the pre-trial proceedings, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten dealt with several allegations that police had violated Ferguson’s rights.
While there was a lawful warrant to search various mobile devices, the accused’s lawyers established that the manner in which certain BlackBerry cellphones containing encrypted messages were searched had breached the accused’s rights.
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/hamilton-man-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-murder-of-b-c-hells-angel