A Richmond man with a history of violence against women, including an incident in which he terrorized his girlfriend and fired a shot, has been designated a dangerous offender and jailed indefinitely.
In December 2013, James Lee Roper, 43, pleaded guilty to a violent hostage-taking incident involving his girlfriend, who can be identified only by the initials B.B. Court heard that Roper met B.B., a prostitute, after reading an ad she had put on the Internet.
Roper, who was unlawfully at large at the time for a prior offence, began using drugs with B.B. While they were together, he committed two bank robberies to fuel his drug habit, with B.B. in the vehicle during one of the robberies.
On the day of the hostage-taking in June 2011, after several days of ingesting drugs, he had a pistol in his possession and his behaviour was erratic and violent.
When B.B. tried to flee the Richmond apartment, screaming, “Help me,” he dragged her back into the suite, punching her in the head.
A witness reported the incident and police soon arrived on the scene. An RCMP officer knocked loudly on the door, prompting Roper to open fire with his pistol.
Just before firing, he said: “Back off, copper, or you will never get out alive.” A shot narrowly missed the police officer’s ear.
After a standoff of several hours, Roper surrendered to police.
In imposing sentence on Roper on Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Arne Silverman said he accepted that the accused had threatened to kill himself and that B.B. was terrified he meant to kill her before he took his own life.
The judge said Roper’s anger was largely fuelled by his drug use, especially crystal methamphetamine.
The Crown argued that Roper, who had a lengthy criminal record including several incidents of violence against his female partners, had shown a pattern of repetitive and aggressive behaviour.
A psychiatrist’s assessment found that Roper’s pattern of violence seemed to be escalating and that there was a high risk of violent reoffending against either an intimate partner or a stranger.
His lawyer accepted that Roper was dangerous and should be designated a dangerous offender, but argued that there was some hope for him and that he should receive a determinate sentence followed by a longterm supervision order.
The judge agreed there were signs of hope for Roper — including an emotional reconciliation with his mother following 20 years of separation — but decided that an indefinite sentence was mandatory given the circumstances.
“Mr. Roper, I know it’s not going to do much for you, but I wish you good luck,” said the judge after spending most of the day reading his ruling.
B.B., who was present in court, refused to comment.
