TORONTO - The man convicted of firing the shot that blinded a Toronto bus driver more than four years ago has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
A jury had convicted Malcom Chalmers, 23, of aggravated assault in the October 2005 shooting of bus driver Jamie Pereira.
Chalmers had been tried on a charge of attempted murder, but the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of aggravated assault.
He was also found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence.
To convict Chalmers on attempted murder, the jury would have had to believe he intended to kill Pereira.
Chalmers received credit for time in custody when the sentence was handed down Friday, reducing the term to nine years.
The incident occurred at a bus stop on the night of Oct. 15, 2005, after a scuffle broke out among several young men.
The jury heard a recording of Pereira, now 45, calling for help. "Please, please, call the police," he is heard urging. The sound of gunshots is then heard, followed by Pereira crying out.
Chalmers had shot him in the face with a 9mm Browning semiautomatic handgun -- a firearm with a lethal history in Toronto. The gun had been passed around in Toronto gang circles and was used to kill popular youth worker Kempton Howard in December 2003.
As a result of the shooting, Pereira lost his left eye and only has 25 per cent vision in his right one.
At the time of Chalmers' Nov. 25 conviction, defence lawyer Mary Cremer said her client was adamant he isn't guilty of the crime and that avenues of appeal would be explored.
