Hells Angel found guilty of kidnapping and assault in Hope will be sentenced

EMELIE PEACOCK

An Alberta Hells Angel found guilty of kidnapping and assault in Hope will be sentenced March 16, 2021.

Neil Patrick Cantrill, along with Stephan Cantrill and Robert Lowry, were charged in relation to an incident in Hope that took place in August 2016. The three were found guilty in New Westminster Supreme Court on July 17, on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion, forcible confinement and attempting to choke to overcome resistance.

Court documents describe a business arrangement between Neil Cantrill and victim of the assault Richard Houle involving cannabis grow operations in Hope and Dogwood Valley. The pair began working together in 2001 or 2002 in an arrangement whereby Houle would grow and deliver the product to Edmonton, from there Cantrill would take over distribution.

• IF YOU WANT TO BE IN A GANG JOIN A GANG NOT A MOTORCYCLE CLUB
• BANDIDOS & WATERDOGS MC SHOOTING CLOSES TWO MOTORCYCLE RALLIES *VIDEO*
• IRON HORSEMEN MC COLD BLOODED KILLER BACK IN SPOTLIGHT *VIDEO*
• 16 ALLEGED MEMBERS OF OUTCAST MC ARRESTED Operation Patronus
• Investigators believe the Bandidos instigated a “premeditated” campaign of violence

The agreement ended in 2014, yet two years later the three men assaulted and threatened Houle at a pullout near the Fraser River bridge before driving with him to his home in Kawkawa Lake. Once at the home, police arrived and arrested the three men as Houle was taken to hospital with injuries including a fractured orbital bone and torn sinus linings.

The sentencing comes just under three years since the trial was set to start in April 2018. Some of the delays related to the three men firing their first lawyer in 2018.

Cantrill, who went by the name ‘Nitro’ in a Nomads Chapter of the Alberta Hells Angels, has according to Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan since joined the Westridge chapter of the Hells Angels.

Cantrill was also charged in relation to an alleged incident in 1998, charges which were later stayed. According to a 2001 article in the Edmonton Sun, a man claimed three men, one wearing colours of the Hells Angels, stormed into his house and forced him to hand over property for a debt.

He has also faced accusations, wrote Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan, of having run a large methamphetamine operation out of Alberta. In 2003, Bolan wrote, Cantrill faced further weapons and drug charges that were later dropped because of an invalid warrant.