B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Fisher on July 31 sentenced Russell Bideshi to 30 months in prison for shooting Harpreet Sandhu back in November 2011 in Richmond.

Bideshi has been ordered to provide a DNA sample and has been banned from possessing firearms for 10 years.

A week earlier the judge had found Bideshi not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of unlawfully committing bodily harm, following a dispute over a taxi.

Both Bideshi and Sandhu were with their own group of friends at a party at Richmond’s Holiday Inn on Cambie Road that night. The groups went across the street and waited on the patio of a restaurant.  Bideshi had an argument with Sandhu and threw him against the window of the restaurant.  Some people broke up the fight, but one of Bideshi’s friends turned up with a gun.

When Sandhu went to catch a taxi, Bideshi took his friend’s gun and went to the taxi too. An argument ensued as to who would take the taxi. Bideshi pointed the gun at Sandhu and it discharged, striking Sandhu in the chin.

The judge ruled that although Bideshi intended to shoot Sandhu, he did not intend to kill him.