Vancouver Gay Basher Gets Year in Prison

A man convicted of a hate-motivated attack against a gay man in Vancouver, Canada. was sentenced to 12 months in jail Friday. Advocates against hate crimes hailed the ruling and sentencing of Michael Kandola in the 2008 attack as precedent-setting.

According to The Vancouver Sun, "B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves accepted that Kandola acted out of hatred when he slugged Jordan Smith in September 2008, knocking the gay man out cold.

"Groves said Kandola shouted homophobic slurs both before and after he struck Smith after he saw Smith strolling down Davie Street in the West End hand in hand with his boyfriend.

"Groves dismissed Kandola's argument that the aggravated assault was not a hate crime, but simply the result of drunken bravado and youth."

Kandola, 22, received a total sentence of 17 months but was credited five months for pretrial time served. He also received a year's probation and a ban on going near Smith, his boyfriend, or the area of the crime.