体坛英语新闻：First convicted face 15-18 month jail in Vancouver ice hockey riot

VANCOUVER, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Prosecutors in British Columbia of Canada Tuesday asked a judge to hand down a 15-18 month sentence to the first person convicted in the Vancouver ice hockey riot last June that decimated the Canadian city's downtown core.

At his sentencing hearing, Ryan Dickinson, 20, of Coquitlam, B. C., a suburb city of Vancouver, pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from the June 15 riot. His lawyer has asked the court for a one-year sentence.

A reserved decision on his sentencing is expected in the coming weeks.

Dickinson, who has been in custody since December 8, also faces another 1-3 months jail time for breaching court orders. On the night of the riot he was supposed to be home under a court-ordered curfew stemming from earlier charges of assault and robbery.

Video from the night of the riot shows Dickinson helping to destroy two unmarked police cruisers that were later flipped over and set ablaze. He was also seen tossing a newspaper box through a clothing store window that was later looted.

Dickinson made the mistake of talking about his night of destruction with a friend on Facebook the following day and was arrested by police in October.

The riot started about 7:30 p.m. on June 15 during the deciding game of last year's Stanley Cup final between the home team, Vancouver Canucks, and the eventual champions, Boston Bruins. With an estimated 155,000 ice hockey fans packed into downtown bars and a special fan zone where big screen televisions were set up by the City of Vancouver, the scene turned ugly when it was clear the Canucks would lose the game.

In an alcohol-fuelled frenzy that went on for more than four hours, the rioters, mainly young drunken men, went on the rampage overturning and burning cars, smashing windows and looting shops before police brought the situation under control just after midnight.

The riot left one person critically injured and 149 hurt, including nine police.

The Vancouver Police Department has, to date, recommended 350 charges to Crown prosecutors against 125 riot suspects. The Crown, so far, has approved 129 charges against 47 suspected rioters.

As of February, the riot has caused nearly four million Canadian dollars (4 million U.S. dollars) in vandalism, theft and damage to property.

On Monday, B.C. Provincial Judge Malcolm MacLean ruled Dickinson's riot trial would not be televised. The consideration to televise the trial, and future riot trials, which would be uNPRecedented, came after British Columbia Premier Christy Clark earlier called for the rioters to be punished to the full extent of the law and that the trials be broadcast.

MacLean said he based his decision on a number of unresolved issues, such as the safety of the judges and legal personnel involved, and the costs and delays involved in televising the proceedings. The images could have also been downloaded and broadcast worldwide.

On Tuesday, however, Clark was not backing down on having cameras in courts in future. She reasoned public confidence in the legal system was currently at a low and the cameras would help counter that trend.

"I think it's an idea whose time has come. We are going to continue to find way to try to get there though," she told the media.

"And in this case, although the application hasn't delayed any cases so far, it became quite clear with the judge's ruling yesterday that in future cases it's likely."