NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN
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VOL. 48 ISSUE 64
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CROWN TO SEEK JAIL TIME FOR LEAMAN Joe Fries
Western News Staff
NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN
Inflated egos are common in people like Gary Leaman, who have narcissistic personality disorders, a psychologist said Monday at the former Penticton city councillor’s sentencing hearing. Leaman, 59, faces up to 18 months in jail on each of the two counts of sexual assault to which he pleaded guilty in January, but won’t learn his fate until the hearing resumes Sept. 12 in provincial court in Penticton. Details of the offences are covered by a routine publication ban to shield the victims’ identities. The forensic psychologist who prepared the pre-sentence report on Leaman told the court Monday that test results led her to conclude Leaman has a narcissistic personality disorder, traits of which include “limited empathy” and a “grandiose sense of self-importance.” Leaman “may believe that he is special or unique and can only be understood by, or associate with, other special or high-status individuals or institutions,” explained Dr. Nalini Joneja. “In such cases where he does not receive the special treatment, the positive reinforcement or the admiration to which he feels entitled, he’s likely to react with rage and con-
GARY LEAMAN ARRIVED at the Penticton court house Monday for the first day of his sentencing hearing on two counts of sexual assault which he pleaded guilty to earlier this year. He is scheduled to be back in court Sept. 12.
Mark Brett/Western News
tempt by attacking, degrading or belittling others.” Defence counsel Michael Welsh spent an hour cross-examining Joneja regarding her report, including errors concerning where Leaman was born and attended college.
Leaman, who has a goatee, and wore a yellow shirt, grey pants and a grey-and-black tie, then testified himself about the errors, and expanded on other elements of the report, such as a detail about him inviting a Buddhist monk to stay at his condominium at Apex
Mountain. Joneja suggested in her testimony that the invite may be evidence of Leaman seeking acceptance from a high-status individual, but Leaman disputed that. The monk, he explained, is one with whom he’s been studying the religion in the Lower Mainland and who suffers from “severe concussion syndrome” that may be helped by staying at the quiet condo. “It was simply a kind gesture,” Leaman said, adding, “I knew I was going to jail” and wouldn’t be using the home. Crown counsellor Catherine Crockett told the court she will cross-examine Leaman when the hearing resumes in September. She has not yet stated her sentencing position, but told reporters she’ll be seeking jail time. Judge Gale Sinclair told both Crockett and Welsh of his “displeasure” in learning the sentencing hearing would take longer than the scheduled half-day. Leaman served one term as a Penticton city councillor from 2002 to 2005, but was not re-elected, and failed in two subsequent runs at municipal office. He retired in October 2013 from his longtime job as manager of Cherry Lane Shopping Centre, and the charges were sworn in November. Leaman remains free on $750 bail, but has surrendered his passport and agreed to stay within B.C.
Penticton Hospitality Association levels accusations towards city Steve Kidd
Western News Staff
Incompetence, recklessness and a “gross distortion of the facts” are just some of the accusations the Penticton Hospitality Association levelled at the City of Penticton in a press conference Tuesday. Now that the B.C. Supreme court case is over, with a decision in their favour, the PHA isn’t holding anything back as they ask demand to know who is accountable for creating the situation that brought tourism marketing of the city to a standstill. “What has happened here is either gross incompetence to have led to such a divisive change of events, or it is gross
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said there is no doubt who is responsible. “City council is to blame and that is the bottom line,” said Konanz. “We are given information, we are given advice, but city council made that decision and it looks like it was the wrong one. Especially since it is costing the city quite a bit of money.” Konanz said council felt they were following provincial responsibilities in regard to the hotel tax money, and that if they didn’t act, the province might pull the hotel tax funds. “But according to the judge, we were not,” said Konanz. “So we shouldn’t have gone to court and we need to let the PHA do their work and not be involved anymore.” See PHA on Page 3
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misconduct,” said Tim Hodgkinson, operations director for the PHA. “Either one is unacceptable and it should be unacceptable to the community. People can not be allowed to act with impunity. There needs to be accountability.” “Who is specifically responsible for these ruinous actions?” and “How (and when) will they be held accountable?” are the two questions the PHA is posing to mayor and council, and asking for individual answers. “They are the representatives of the community. It is not good enough to have generic statements coming out. I would like to know from these individuals, I want them to answer the question,” said Hodgkinson. Coun. Helena Konanz, who is deputy mayor this week,
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