B.C. man acquitted of manslaughter after fatal fight at house party

A Vancouver Island man has been acquitted of manslaughter after he violently defended himself in an altercation with a 53-year-old attacker following an alcohol-fuelled house party.

A Vancouver Island man has been acquitted of manslaughter after he violently defended himself in an altercation with a 53-year-old attacker following an alcohol-fuelled house party.

British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth McDonald found Andrew Steve Alphonse not guilty of the charge Friday, more than four years since the fatal incident in Duncan, B.C.

Alphonse, who was 43 years old at the time, repeatedly rebuffed Richard Henry as the older man tried to start a physical fight with him on Jan. 20, 2020, the court heard.

"I believe the accused when he describes the fear he felt for the deceased," the judge wrote in her decision published online Wednesday. "I accept that the accused believed the deceased, who by all accounts was in a rage, was determined to beat him up and capable of seriously injuring him."

The altercation began when both men were at the party, consuming alcohol. Multiple witnesses testified that Alphonse ignored Henry as he began calling him names and trying to instigate a physical altercation.

Henry's romantic partner at the time, Christine George, testified that she could not calm him down, telling the court he was "in a state of uncontrolled anger," the judge said.

"She had experienced the deceased's anger before, and she realized there was no reaching the deceased at this point due to his consumption of hard liquor," she said.