Two men who attacked Fred Parsons and his friends in a Nanaimo park with bear spray and a knife, leading to Parsons’ death, were “amped up and engaging in violent assaults on vulnerable individuals,” a Crown prosecutor told the jury as the men’s manslaughter trial wrapped up.
Crown and defence lawyers gave their closing submissions Friday in the trial of Aiden Bell and Mark Harrison
“We believe that Mr. Harrison started the attack and Mr. Bell finished it. Regardless of who did what, they are both responsible for the death of Mr. Parsons,” Crown prosecutor Nick Barber told the jury.
Parsons, 29, died after he was stabbed in Nanaimo’s Maffeo Sutton Park nearly two years ago.
The 12-person jury will begin deliberations Tuesday.
Barber said Parsons and his friends were in the park’s playground on Sept. 5, 2022, “simply trying to enjoy themselves and be left alone.”
Barber played video footage of the park around the time of the stabbing to establish Bell and Harrison’s movements.
They were in a larger group in a nearby parkade, before the two confronted and threatened a security guard, who called police, Barber said.
As officers arrived at the downtown park, Bell and Harrison went to the playground, where they confronted Parsons’ group, he said.
Once the assault began, it was foreseeable it would lead to Parsons’ death or serious injury, Barber said.
Gloria Ng, who is representing Bell, said the fact that at the time of his arrest, Bell had a jacket that had Parsons’ blood on it shows only that he was in the area at the time of the stabbing, but does not prove he was involved in an attack that led to his death.
Bell was arrested on his 19th birthday after running from police in the park, she said.
Video footage that shows him saying “Stupid, stupid,” after being arrested suggests nothing more than a young man recognizing he made a stupid decision to run from police, Ng said.
Bobby Movassaghi, defence counsel for Harrison, said a witness who testified at trial did not select Harrison as the person responsible for the attack on Parsons.
“The easy answer to that is because he was not,” he told the jury.
The jury will return Tuesday morning to be sequestered and begin deliberations.
