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B.C. man guilty in assault spree again accused of probation breach

Shakwan David Kelly was one of several people charged in Vancouver 2022 stranger assaults that horrified city residents.
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Shakwan David Kelly pleaded guilty to four counts of assault and one for wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

A man sentenced last spring to three years' probation for assaults caught on camera has again been charged with breaching his probation conditions.

Shakwan David Kelly, 29, was released from custody in February after a Vancouver Provincial Court appearance where he faced two counts of breach of a probation.

Kelly was back in court again April 3 charged with further breaches.

This time, court documents allege, he breached twice on March 19 and 20. One count is for failing to comply with an order to reside at Belkin House or another residence approved by his probation supervisor.  The second count is for allegedly failing to report to a probation officer as directed.

Both of those orders were made by Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris March 18.

Kelly pleaded guilty in March 2023 to four counts of assault and one count of wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

He received credit for 255 days served in custody and was ordered to serve three years' probation. A Crown prosecutor had sought 14 to 16 months in jail plus probation. 

Kelly apologized and asked for community forgiveness. 

Kelly’s guilty pleas stemmed from a June 2022 assault on a woman on a bus, and a trio of July 2022 assaults: against two men at Vancouver General Hospital, a man at the Kettle Friendship Society and a man on a SkyTrain car.

Kelly had also been charged with assaulting a woman and her infant in Chinatown before his July 9, 2022 arrest. He was released after charges of mischief, assault and obstructing a peace officer, but skipped a scheduled court appearance. Kelly was returned to custody when Vancouver police arrested him later that month.

Footage of the incidents in Chinatown and on a Coast Mountain bus received considerable media attention in 2022, when stranger assaults and police staffing became significant issues in that year’s civic election.

Kelly returns to court April 18 on the latest charges.

Court documents said he remains in custody.