B.C. man gets months-long sentence for assault, threats, as he awaits murder trial

The man accused in a high-profile killing of his estranged wife has been sentenced in a separate case of choking and uttering threats in Kelowna, B.C.

Provincial court Judge David Ruse sentenced James Plover to one year in jail on the choking charge and six months on each of the threat charges, which will all be served at the same time.

The identity of the victims in the case are covered by a publication ban.

Accounting for time awaiting trial, Plover will serve about five months on the charges, but he will remain in custody ahead of his first-degree murder trial in the killing of Bailey McCourt.

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Plover was convicted of choking someone and uttering the threats on July 4, and was then freed on $500 bail just hours before he is alleged to have attacked and killed his estranged wife with a hammer in a Kelowna parking lot, before being arrested by RCMP.

Plover expressed remorse at his sentencing hearing Nov. 17, saying whatever sentence he would be handed in the case “doesn’t matter” as he will torture himself until he dies.

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The court had previously heard that Plover and the victim became embroiled in a heated argument, and he choked the complainant as evidenced by neck bruising shown in photographs presented to the court.

His trial heard that Plover grabbed a machete and destroyed a dining room table and a painting, and expressed “suicidal ideations” to his parents before he was arrested.

Plover made his first court appearance on the murder charge earlier this week, and his next date in that matter has been scheduled for mid-January.

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