A 25-year-old man who is already in jail for choking, robbing and raping a sex-trade worker at a Vancouver park has been sentenced to three more years for unlawfully confining and raping his ex-girlfriend in Burnaby while he was out on bail.
Ezaz Ahmed Razak was found guilty on May 22 of sexual assault, assault, uttering threats and unlawful confinement for incidents involving his former girlfriend, identified in court only as V.N.
Razak was also found guilty of breaching bail conditions imposed on him after a violent sexual assault of a Vancouver sex-trade worker just 10 weeks earlier.
V.N. told the court she had broken up with Razak after a relationship in Grade 9 because it was “not good,” and Razak was rude, mean and once slapped her across the face.
She said he had been “psychotic” in response to the breakup and had not left her alone since.
On Nov. 18, 2017 – years after they had broken up – she said Razak showed up at her house at 5 a.m., intoxicated and screaming her name.
Not wanting him to wake her parents, she called him a taxi and went down to him.
He ended up shoving her into her own car, twisting her wrist, telling her to drive, screaming threats at her and eventually raping her in the car outside his Burnaby residence.
“I replay that night in my head every day, and I hope one day I will be able overcome this, and I also hope that one day that Mr. Razak will be remorseful for what he has done and I hope he gets the justice he deserves,” V.N. said in a victim impact statement.
She managed to get help by calling 911 and then hanging up. When the dispatcher called back, she told Razak it was her boss and she had to take the call. Giving only yes or no answers, she then communicated the situation to the dispatcher.
When police arrived, she ran from the car.
Razak got out after her with his pants around his ankles and his buttocks showing.
At trial, Razak denied sexually assaulting V.N., but B.C. provincial court Judge Nancy Phillips rejected his evidence as “misleading and contrived” and described his testimony as “highly idealized, lacking in detail, inconsistent and incapable of belief.”
Sentencing
Crown prosecutor Jenny Machek said Razak should be given a prison sentence of five years and six months, minus credit for time served.
Razak’s lawyer, Paul Janzen, argued the sentence should fall in the two- to three-year range.
Phillips sentenced him to a total of three years in , minus time served, leaving about two years and two months on his sentence.
That time will be tacked on to a sentence for the attack on the Vancouver sex-trade worker, of which he was convicted on May 21.
Minus credit for time served, Razak now has four years and seven months left to serve on his sentences for the two attacks.
Among the aggravating factors listed by Phillips in Razak’s attack on his ex-girlfriend, were that it was a “serious and violent attack and a violation of V.N.’s personal integrity,” V.N. had feared for her life and suffered physical and emotional harm and the crimes occurred while Razak was on bail for a serious sexual assault and breaching terms of release.
“These aggravating factors are indicative of a high level of culpability and moral blameworthiness on Mr. Razak’s part,” Phillips said.
As mitigating factors, Phillips noted Razak was still a young man, had been employed steadily since leaving high school in Grade 10 and was legally a first offender (since he had not yet been found guilty of the attack on the sex worker before attacking V.N.)
In terms of his prospects for rehabilitation, however, Phillips said that was an “open question” since he has denied sexually assaulting the two women, making it unclear how much he could engage in programs that require full disclosure as part of treatment.
Phillips also noted Razak displayed a “profound lack of insight” when asked by a psychologist how he would prevent getting into similar situations in the future.
“There is little basis upon which to place much emphasis at sentencing on Mr. Razak’s prospects for rehabilitation. His prospects are very unclear in that regard,” Phillips concluded.
