The man convicted of a string of violent attacks on women near two Vancouver SkyTrain stations in 2006 was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday.
Less thirty months credit for time served, Frank Siniscalchi will serve another five and a half years. The Crown had asked for a ten year sentence.
The 38-year-old former hospital worker and father of three was convicted of five accounts of robbery in January 2007 for attacks near the 29th Avenue and Nanaimo Street SkyTrain stations. Siniscalchi attacked five Chinese-Canadian women between December 2006 and January 2007 with a metal bar.
Defence lawyer Philip Scarisbrick said Siniscalchi has received death threats in jail.
"He's been told by inmates that when he gets to the federal system he'll be killed," he said. "How true that is, how realistic that is, I don't know. But I'll be writing to the federal authorities to warn them of that."
One victim suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the attack, and the outcry from the community was widespread. A major petition campaign was launched to increase security at SkyTrain stations.
Siniscalchi offered a tearful apology to the victims of his crimes in court on Wednesday and said he was driven to commit the crimes because of an addiction to crack cocaine.
Scarisbrick added the case is bizarre, given Siniscalchi was previously an exemplary citizen and family man.
Watch CTV News at Six for a full report with Dag Sharman
