By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Lethbridge man given 10-years for manslaughter

Dec 20, 2016 | 3:33 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The family of Matthew Flitton left the Lethbridge courthouse in anger and frustration Tuesday morning (Dec. 20), following the sentencing of 30-year old Randall William Enright.

Enright – who had originally been charged with second degree murder – entered a guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter last month for the stabbing death of Flitton, and was sentenced to 10-years in prison today.

Flitton had agreed to let Enright stay in his home, after he was kicked out of his girlfriend’s home because of a “three month meth binge.” Shortly after he moved in, Enright stabbed Flitton multiple times and fled the scene.

During the hearing, Justice R. Jerke called the incident “a brutal, violent knife attack,” noting that it was close to being a murder case, as opposed to the reduced charge. He reviewed the evidence that had been presented in November, such as the fact that Enright had stabbed Flitton 14 times, with wounds to his chest varying in depth from 13 to 21 centimetres.

Justice Jerke proceeded to go over a psychological assessment that had been prepared for Enright, which stated that he has a long history of substance abuse that resulted in numerous run-ins with police and the criminal justice system. He noted that Enright first used marijuana at the age of 12 and started selling drugs at 15.

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From there, Justice Jerke said he saw genuine remorse from Enright when Flitton’s family had spoken in court, and when he read an apology to them.

After delivering the sentence, Justice Jerke acknowledged that Enright would get credit for 295 days in pre-trial custody at a rate of 1.5, adding up to 443 days off his sentence. That leaves Enright with eight years and 287 days left.

That news sent a shockwave through the courtroom, with family members voicing their clear displeasure and some even asking if he was joking. They then yelled at Enright as he was escorted from the room.

Outside the courthouse, Flitton’s sister, Dalayna Taverner, spoke to the media about Jerke’s comments about remorse.

“If [Enright] was so remorseful, why didn’t he admit to the police what he did in the first place and not make us wait a year and a half to figure out what the hell was going on? Why didn’t he admit to the police what he actually did and talk about what actually happened when he killed Matt? He’s never shared that, he didn’t explain what the argument was about, like as far as we know, it was about a piece of pizza that was lying on the floor beside him,” Taverner said through tears.

“Matt opened his house up to him, and this is what we get, we get to live without Matt for the rest of our lives, and he gets eight and a half fricken years. What a joke.”

Defence lawyer Greg White also took some time talk to the media, and delivered a statement from his client.

“He accepts the sentence that he’s been given, but he knows – and he told me this – that nothing that happens to him, no sentence that he serves, the agony that he feels for what he’s done, can compensate for the death of Mr. Flitton,” said White, who also noted that based on case law, this is the longest sentence for a stabbing Alberta.