Oh, Richard Martin, You Are A Special Kind of Stupid

When Andrew Benson moved to Calgary in July, his best friend and life partner Richard Martin didn't accompany him on the journey. It's not as if Martin wouldn't have made the trip if he could, but he was a bit preoccupied being in jail at the time. Still, he had an open invitation to move out to Calgary once he was released.

Looks like he might have to hold off a little longer on those plans:

Racial epithets lead to charges
John BurmanThe Hamilton Spectator(Aug 11, 2010) 

The woman called police when two men, who had been taunting her, arrived at her door. 

She'd seen them around her Westdale neighbourhood over a couple of weeks since the start of July -- two men she did not know yelling racial slurs at her. The last straw was July 16. The two men followed her home and pounded on her door. She called 911. 

Hamilton police identified two suspects in their investigation and last week arrested Shane Gill, 38, of no fixed address, at an address in St. Catharines. They also arrested Richard Martin, 23, of no fixed address, at the Hamilton- Wentworth detention centre where he was in custody on an unrelated matter. Both men have been charged with criminal harassment with hate/bias overtones. 

The two men appeared in Hamilton court Friday for bail hearings but were remanded until they can obtain counsel. 

Though both suspects were of no fixed address, they were apparently living in the woman's neighbourhood at the time of the alleged offences. Police will not identify the nature of the racial remarks or what ethnic community the woman identifies with. 

Police Sergeant Terri-Lynn Collings said the case is an alleged hate/bias crime that went beyond the kind of thing usually seen in Hamilton because there was repeated contact. 

The incident is relatively rare because it meets the criminal harassment test in that it caused someone to fear for their safety. 

Collings could not recall similar charges being laid in Hamilton in recent years. 

"We don't often see this," said Collings, adding that could be due to a number of factors including having enough evidence to lay such a charge and having a witness willing to take the case through the court process. 

Collings said Hamilton Police victims services and community relations staff will be assisting the complainant each step of the way. 

jburman@thespec.com

Of course Martin isn't a stranger to the readers of this blog. In March 2009 we posted an article pointing to Martin's involvement in the vandalizing of a Toronto store. Sadly, it doesn't appear that Martin was ever even questioned, much less charged, in that case. In addition to this, it also appears that Martin is aware of other acts of racist vandalism that had occurred in the Toronto area; he either knew of the individual or individuals involved or he was had actively participated in the act himself:


We've also used these pages to childishly make fun of Martin and his friends.

Over...

...and over again.

Oh dear! However did that picture of Martin with Paulie show up here? Well, we might as well leave it there. Considering whom else Paulie associates with, it just confirms what we all believe already about him.