Police had the area around Maffeo Sutton Park blocked off on Sept. 5, 2022, following the death of 29-year-old Fred Parsons. One of the accused in his death had their detention review application rejected by the BC Supreme Court on Sept. 20. (File photo)

By Ian Holmes

staying put

Suspect in fatal Nanaimo stabbing remains in jail, judge tosses detention review application

Sep 20, 2023 | 3:02 PM

NANAIMO — A co-accused in the disturbing death of a special needs man who was violently stabbed on Nanaimo’s waterfront has again been denied pre-trial release.

Mark Jayden Harrison, 20, had a detention review application rejected by BC Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird during a Wednesday, Sept. 20 court appearance.

Harrison and co-accused Aiden Matthew William Bell are charged with manslaughter in the death of 29-year-old Fred Parsons, who was stabbed to death at the Maffeo Sutton Park playground late on the evening of Sept. 5, 2022.

Harrison was arrested three days after the incident, while Bell was apprehended the night of the stabbing in downtown Nanaimo.

Details of the detention review application judgment are sealed under a court-ordered publication ban to protect the integrity of future legal proceedings.

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Harrison, had a detention review application shot down in July, while he was denied bail in a March 1 decision in provincial court by judge Tamara Hodge.

He’s currently locked up at the Fraser Valley Institution in Abbotsford.

He appeared via video link for Wednesday’s ruling from the Fraser Valley Institution in Abbotsford.

Both Harrison and Bell are scheduled to go on trial starting on July 22, 2024, before a judge and jury.

Bell remains on house arrest.

Harrison and Bell are represented by separate lawyers. The pair will be obligated to enter pleas before the court at the start of the trial.

The men were charged following what police called a random attack in which a small group of youth approached another group of people at the playground at Maffeo Sutton Park late on the evening of Sept. 5, 2022.

Police said bear spray was used by the group of aggressors.

Harrison was originally charged with second-degree murder, while Bell was charged with a pair of weapons offences.

Those charges were adjusted in November after the BC Prosecution Service stated it received additional information.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes