44-year-old Garnet Loon is going to spend another 12 years in jail after being convicted of manslaughter in the death of Robert Gray. Judge Danial Newton sentenced him to 16 years behind bars however with time already served it was reduced to 12.

Judge Newton detailed Loon’s 26 prior convictions that include a 2009 manslaughter for which he received a six-year sentence. His other convictions include a number of forms of assault. His last conviction of uttering threats was in February of 2017, four months later Loon was responsible for Gray’s death in a home on Carl Avenue.

In the summer of 2017, Loon was at a drinking party when he got into a fight with Gray and knocked him unconscious. He then used a skateboard to hit Gray a number of times and asked his daughter to get him a knife. When his daughter couldn’t find one she gave him a two-pronged metal fork which he used on Gray.

In giving reasons for his sentence Judge Newton said: “The brutality of the assault and injuries are aggravating factors.”

According to court files, Loon struck Gray with enough force to cause two skull fractures and the blunt force trauma caused the brain injury.

Newton told the court that Loon was aware of the extent of the injuries he caused, telling people that he “overbeat” and “may have killed Gray.”

Court heard that Loon had left Gray to die. The postmortem exam revealed that Gray was alive when Loon left him after the assault. Gray was found dead four days after the beating and Loon was hundreds of kilometres away.

Judge Newton closed his decision by expressing his sympathy to the family of Robert Gray.

Conviction In 2017 Manslaughter Death