Crown seeks five years for vigilante-style attack in Kamloops

A Kamloops man is looking at jail time for retaliating against a man by breaking into his home and attacking him.

Jesse Coueffin, 28, was "sending a message" when he broke into the victim's Kamloops home in January 2021, Crown prosecutor Leah Winters told the court today, Nov. 29.

He wasn't alone and the victim was held down as he was beaten with brass knuckles and had his face cut with a knife.

The other man who helped him was never charged and the knife was never found but Coueffin bears the brunt of the court's findings, awaiting to be sentenced for aggravated assault and the break and enter.

Winters said the attack was planned. The victim tried "hooking up" with Coueffin's girlfriend, so he retaliated. The victim's injuries weren't life threatening, but he lost a tooth as a result of the assault.

Coueffin's co-accused, Justine Hunt, wasn't charged in relation to the assault, but she was part of the break-in. She was given 18-months probation earlier this year for the break-in and possession of a weapon.

His lawyer, Jon Gustafson, told the court Coueffin was spending time with the wrong people around the time of the assault, suggesting it was poor influences that led the first-time offender to violence. He acknowledged the explanation was vague, but went on to say Coueffin didn't want to go into detail on the wrong people he surrounded himself with.

In the nearly three years since the attack, Gustafson said Coueffin hasn't run into trouble with the law again. He suggested a jail sentence of two years minus a day, allowing Coueffin to stay in a provincial facility.

The Crown, however, sought a five-year sentence for the break and enter, along with a three-year concurrent sentence for the assault.

Winters acknowledged Coueffin doesn't have a criminal record, but said it's important the court denounce the attack after the victim was ambushed for what she called a "perceived slight."

For a first-time offender, Coueffin was "coming out of the gate pretty hot" with the home invasion, she said.

Provincial court judge Raymond Phillips said he would decide Coueffin's fate by Monday, Dec. 4, when they will return to the courtroom once more.

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