Photo: Castanet

A young man who has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars — including the past 17 months for possessing a 3-D printed handgun and then lying to police after shots were fired — broke down in court Monday saying he has had enough of his life of crime and is going to straighten himself out and end his criminal lifestyle.

Rahim Bhanji, 34, pleaded guilty at the Penticton Courthouse to possessing a prohibited firearm without a proper license or registration certificate, possessing a weapon when prohibited from doing so and one count of public mischief for making false statements to police.

All of these events took place the evening of Sept. 8, 2023 at an apartment Bhanji was renting in Oliver.

Court heard Bhanji has spent the past 17 months in custody since his arrest on these charges .

A joint submission was presented by Crown attorney Nick Lerfold and defence counsel Taylor McLean that Bhanji be released from custody on Tuesday for time served.

Bhanji was placed on probation for six months and ordered to not possess any prohibited weapon for the rest of his life and continue to take counselling as recommended by his probation officer.

After hearing details about Bhanji’s tragic childhood, where he was a repeated victim of sexual abuse and how he turned to drugs and alcohol and adopted a criminal lifestyle, the accused told the court he’s sincerely sorry for his actions.

Bhanji told Justice Maria Morellato he has finally taken steps to turn his life around and he’s committed to leading a proactive life and staying out of trouble.

“I’m broken,” said a tearful Bhanji, after Morellato agreed to the joint submission to see him released Tuesday. “I’m trying to fix myself.”

For the first time in his life, he realizes he has to seek help to turn his life around and he’s done a lot of good things while incarcerated over these past 17 months to achieve that goal, said Bhanji.

“I’m actually reaching out for help,” he said.

Bhanji told Morellato he apologizes for his actions and no longer blames others for his criminal behaviour.

“I have to make some serious changes,” he said. “I’m putting my foot down and going to make positive changes.”

Morellato praised Bhanji for his honesty and told him that acknowledging he needs help is a giant step in the right direction and she hopes he remains committed to counselling and staying out of trouble moving forward.

Lerfold told the court that around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2023, police received a call that a firearm had been discharged in Oliver.

Two officers spoke with Bhanji, who told them he had heard a couple of shots had been discharged down an alleyway near the apartment building he lived in.

However, after officers talked to other witnesses, information was provided that the shots were fired from the apartment building where Bhanji lived.

The officers returned and found two “spent shells” outside the apartment building and “something didn’t seem right," said Lerfold.

The public mischief charge relates to lying about who fired the shots, said Lerfold.

When they went to talk to Bhanji once again, one officer noticed a “bulge” in a pair of jeans laying on some furniture and discovered a 3-D printed handgun inside the jeans, said Lerfold.

A friend of Bhanji’s had shown him the illegal weapon and was responsible for firing off two rounds to show him the gun worked properly, he said.

While this was “not a particularly sophisticated version” of a 3-D printed handgun, it’s still illegal and these types of guns are becoming more and more common and dangerous because they don’t have serial numbers and can’t be traced, he said.

Lerfold told the court Bhanji has a long and consistent criminal record that includes more than 40 convictions, the majority in Calgary, where he grew up.

He has several convictions for incidents involving violence and weapons, including convictions for assaulting police and assault with a weapon in 2019, said Lerfold.

To get away from his criminal lifestyle in Alberta, Bhanji accepted a proposal to move to B.C. and managed to stay out of trouble for a couple of years before being arrested and convicted for possession of brass knuckles and shoplifting while out on bail, said Lerfold.

Court heard Bhanji had spent almost 500 days in custody since his arrest on these gun charges, which is boosted to 734 days of pre-trial custody when given 1.5 days credit for each day served pending trial.

Considering his long record and the seriousness of possessing any illegal firearm while under a lifetime weapons ban, the time served sentence after 17 months in custody is “entirely fair and appropriate”, said Lerfold.

McLean said Bhanji grew up with his parents and three sisters in Calgary, but suffered severe childhood trauma as he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a daycare worker as a young child.

“He had a very difficult upbringing,” he said.

His client eventually started hanging around with a bad crowd and started experimenting with drugs and he ended up with a number of charges as a youth, he said.

His experimentation with harder drugs eventually led to an addiction to fentanyl and methamphetamine, he said.

Bhanji has reportedly gotten clean and sober while incarcerated at the Okanagan Correctional Centre the past 17 months and has sought counselling to deal with his many problems.

Because he has family and more supports back in Calgary, Bhanji plans on returning there once he is released, said McLean.

Bhanji has completed numerous programs during his latest stint in prison, which is another good sign he wants to turn his life around, he said.

Bhanji has taken numerous concrete steps to put his former life behind him and will continue to access counselling to deal with the underlying childhood trauma issues that led to drug addiction and a life of crime, he said.

Back in early 2011, Edmonton police laid charges against five people in connection with a homicide at the Edmonton Institution.

Homicide detectives were called to the prison at 9:30 pm on Feb. 26, 2011 to reports of a suspicious death.

The victim was identified as Gyozo Victor Barasso, 45, an inmate at the facility.

Barasso was serving four years and two months for robbery, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose.

An autopsy found that Barasso was stabbed to death.

Five inmates at the Edmonton Institution at that time were charged in connection with Barasso’s death, including Bhanji.

Bhanji, who was only 20 at the time, was charged with two counts of accessory after fact to murder, and one count of attempted obstruction of justice.

This article is published as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.