Family members of Ryden Brogden angrily left a Calgary courtroom Wednesday after learning the man who fatally stabbed their loved one will not serve jail time.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Johanna Price sentenced John Sproule, 23, to a conditional sentence order of two years of house arrest and two years of probation. Sproule had earlier been found guilty of manslaughter for the September 2022 stabbing death of Brogden, 27, outside a Banff bar.
Price emphasized that the case involved “near self-defence,” noting that Brogden started the altercation. Surveillance video showed Brogden sucker punching Sproule, pulling his shirt over his head, and repeatedly assaulting him while threatening to kill him. Sproule, then 20, pulled out a folding knife and swung blindly, inflicting 19 stab and slash wounds.
While Price accepted that Sproule was defending himself, she ruled he used “more force than necessary.” She also noted Sproule’s remorse and “exceptional” circumstances, adding: “Sending John to jail will not bring Ryden back.”
Prosecutors had sought a five- to six-year prison term. Defence lawyers argued in favour of a conditional sentence or, alternatively, an 18-month jail term.
The judge agreed that Sproule poses no danger to the public. Along with his two-year house arrest, he must complete 240 hours of community service.
Brogden’s family reacted with anger as the sentence was delivered, with several members muttering and walking out of the courtroom.
Sproule later embraced his mother, brother, and girlfriend.
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