It is no surprise that a jury found John Nuttall and Amanda Korody guilty of attempting to explode a bomb at the B.C. legislature on Canada Day 2013. What鈥檚 surprising is the amount of resources expended by the RCMP to get this pathetic pair to that point.
That Nuttall and Korody had dangerous intent is not in doubt, but it鈥檚 puzzling that it took a months-long sting operation involving more than 240 police officers to thwart their plans and bring them to justice, especially at a time when the RCMP struggles with staff shortages and budget restrictions.
After three days of deliberation, the jury announced its verdict in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday, finding Nuttall and Korody guilty of three terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, possessing an explosive substance and placing an explosive substance in a public place.
But those jury verdicts will not be entered until Justice Catherine Bruce considers the defence lawyers鈥� contention that their clients should be freed because they were victims of police entrapment. Bruce will start hearing those arguments next week.
In Canada, entrapment cannot be used as a defence when deciding guilt or innocence. The issue is almost always raised following a guilty verdict but before the accused is sentenced.
Entrapment is convincing someone, through unfair means such as trickery, fraud or persuasion, to commit a crime they would not otherwise commit. A variety of factors are considered, including whether the police exploited emotions such as compassion, friendship and sympathy, or whether police exploited a particular vulnerability, such as substance addiction or mental illness.
If entrapment is proved, a judge can issue a stay of proceedings.
During the sting operation, undercover police befriended Nuttall and Korody, recent converts to Islam who struggled with poverty and addiction. They recorded conversations that showed the two expressing desires for jihadist activities. Whether they would have been able to act on those desires is the big question.
Nuttall鈥檚 schemes seemed little more than fantasies. He proposed hijacking a nuclear submarine, firing rockets over the border at Seattle and commandeering a Via Rail train on 91原创 Island, where trains haven鈥檛 run for years.
Nuttall was chided for not coming up with a better plan, and the result was the plot to explode pressure-cooker bombs at the B.C. legislature. The undercover officers who assisted the couple with the plot ensured the bombs were inert and posed no danger.
Police are to be commended for detecting the couple鈥檚 murderous intentions. Befuddled though they might have been, they seemed determined to kill. The video recordings of conversations leave little doubt of that.
But why the elaborate plot, the massive expenditures of time and money? These were not highly intelligent operatives backed by international terrorists. Could they not have been stopped much earlier in the process?
Perhaps more details will come out in subsequent proceedings, but long before the bombs were built, it seems plenty of evidence had been gathered to support charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.
A finding of entrapment by police is extremely rare in Canada. Simon Fraser University criminology professor David MacAlister says the couple faces an uphill battle to prove they were entrapped.
Their actions have earned them time behind bars. It鈥檚 a shame that the police had to commit so many resources to get them there.
