A Penticton woman is facing a possible three-year jail sentence for her role in a Penticton kidnapping and possibly another year for a home invasion.
Angel Violet Dyck, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of being unlawfully in a house or dwelling.
“I am very sorry. I know it says in the report I don’t show remorse, but I do. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel horrible the things that I made Brett Riopel (the victim) feel,” Dyck said during her sentencing hearing on March 6. “I wish I could change everything that happened, but I know I can’t change the past. I know I can better my future and make sure I’m never in situations like that again.”
Submissions were heard Monday in Penticton Provincial Court, but some disagreement on the facts caused a delay, pushing the hearing to an as-of-yet undetermined date.
Dyck changed her pleas mid-trial along with her co-accused, Scott Andrew McArthur, 27, who is currently serving time — sentenced in July 2016 to just over four years behind bars for his role in the kidnapping of Riopel and the use of an imitation firearm.
Read more: Co-accused in alleged kidnapping pleads not guilty
McArthur, a former Vancouver gang member who has 46 prior criminal convictions had both his legs amputated in surgery in 2014 after a brutal stabbing. McArthur’s lawyer at the time, Bob Maxwell, said the stabbing was the result of McArthur refusing a gang order to bring drugs into a prison.
Read more: Former gangster pleads guilty to kidnapping in Penticton
McArthur was under a nine-month house arrest for a theft in the Lower Mainland in October 2015. He was still under house arrest when he and Dyck kidnapped Riopel and his dog on Oct. 17, 2015 to settle a drug debt.
Court heard during McArthur’s sentencing hearing last year that Riopel was given $200 worth of methamphetamine to sell by McArthur and the next day Riopel was sent threatening text messages relating to the drug debt.
Read more: Kidnapping earns Penticton man four years in prison
Riopel was invited to a Maurice Street residence when a short time later McArthur brandished an imitation firearm and threatened to shoot Riopel and his dog, escorting them into a vehicle when Dyck hopped into the driver’s seat.
The imitation firearm was pointed at Riopel as they drove around to different locations where Riopel was asking friends and family members, including his grandmother, for money to pay off the debt.
Dyck said little during the 25 to 30-minute drive, according to Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich, except for one exchange after she ran a red light.
Just after midnight police located McArthur and he was arrested, while Dyck was released at the scene. A warrant was later issued for her arrest.
“The kidnapping doesn’t happen without Ms. Dyck because of the nature of Mr. McArthur’s disability,” said Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich.
Dyck was on probation during the offence. After first coming into custody in December, 2015, Dyck was granted bail, breaching her curfew order one month later. Dyck has now been in custody, for 418 days.
Crown and defence could not agree on whether or not Dyck was entitled to pre-trial custody credit, which will likely be the subject of an upcoming hearing.
Unlawfully in house
Dyck also pleaded guilty to one count of being unlawfully in a dwelling or house in an unrelated offence, which occured on Nov. 11, 2015.
Read more: Co-accused in Penticton home invasion gets jail time
Dyck was one of three individuals who entered a Eckhardt Avenue East residence behind the 24-7 convienience store. The resident reported to police that several people entered his residence, pointed a gun at him and demanded $75.
The two males with Dyck were Simon Bell, sentenced to six months imprisonment last year, and Virgil Paul, sentenced to seven months for his role in the incident.
Dyck was a resident at the house two weeks prior and had come back looking for money and for her missing drugs.
Bell and Paul were arrested by RCMP an hour after the incident. A black air pistol and a pipe-like flashlight were located on the two. The black air pistol, Crown noted, was not the one used in the incident, which was later located and determined to be an air pistol as well.
Crown counsel Ann Lerchs is seeking 12 months to be served consecutively to any sentence on the kidnapping charges.