B.C.’s highest court has dismissed the appeal of a Kamloops man who took part in a grisly gangland mutilation in 2018, carving the word “rat” into an associate’s chest and cutting whiskers into his face.
Jeremy Bellows, 38, was convicted in 2020 following a trial on charges of aggravated assault and witness intimidation.
Bellows was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his part in the incident, as well as unrelated property- and firearms-related charges.
Bellows was among a group of people that confronted a gang associate inside a Royal Avenue home on Aug. 21, 2018. The victim was targeted because he had been co-operating with police in their investigation of a 2017 shooting.
The men offered the victim, Matt Carstairs, three options for punishment. He could have the fingers cut off one hand, he could have the word “rat” burned into his flesh or he could have the word “rat” carved into his flesh.
Carstairs chose the latter option and the mutilation was carried out.
Bellows was sentenced in November of 2020. He filed a notice of appeal in 2021, but failed to file any additional documents or retain a lawyer.
A three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal panel dismissed Bellows’ appeal last week.
“Given the length of the delay, the inability of the appellant to move the appeal forward, the lack of strength of the appeal and the potential for prejudice, I conclude that the appeal should be dismissed for want of prosecution,” B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Lauri Ann Fenton wrote on the panel’s behalf.
