Prosecutors fail to have B.C. man jailed indefinitely after attempted robbery

A gavel sits on a desk before the a meeting of the House Justice and Human Rights Committee in Ottawa, Wednesday Feb. 13, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

A British Columbia judge has rejected a bid by prosecutors to have a man who was convicted of attempted robbery jailed indefinitely as a dangerous offender, a designation typically reserved for violent criminals and sexual offenders.

Crown lawyers had argued that Christopher Prokopchuk, with a 30-year record of robbery, parole offences and assaults while in custody, deserved an indeterminate sentence after he pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery committed in Surrey, B.C., in 2021.

Justice Barbara Norrell’s ruling, posted online on Wednesday, describes Prokopchuk’s criminal history, including “purposely” leaving behind fingerprints at robbery scenes so he would be caught, and waiting for police to arrive after smashing a window.

She says prosecutors believed Prokopchuk’s issues were “intractable,” and the “only path forward to adequately protect the public” was for him to earn release under an indeterminate sentence.

But the judge says the Crown failed to meet the burden to have him declared a dangerous offender, and any “psychological damage” he might cause in future offences would not rise to the level requiring the designation.

Instead, she says Prokopchuk met the criteria for a long-term offender, sentencing him to 5-and-1/2 years in jail, less time served, leaving two years and 13 days on his sentence.

The Crown, she ruled, had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Prokopchuk poses “a substantial risk” of reoffending, imposing a 10-year supervision order as part of the sentence.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruling says Prokopchuk’s record dates back to 1996, when he was convicted of multiple break-and-enters and thefts at the age of 16, telling a court he committed the offences because he had no place to stay.

He was in and out of jail for similar offences, probation violations, drug offences and multiple bank robberies in B.C. from that point on.

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Norrell’s ruling says Prokopchuk was sentenced to five years in jail for break and enter, theft and other offences committed in Terrace, B.C., in 2007, crimes which would not have been solved without his co-operation.

“Mr. Prokopchuk indicated that he wanted to be sentenced and go back to jail. He purposely did not wear gloves for most of the crimes, knowing he would leave fingerprints,” Norrell writes.

His most recent offences, involving the attempted robbery of a credit union, were possibly for the same reason, with Norrell calling them “acts of desperation” by an unhoused man.

“When the police arrive, he immediately surrendered and fell to the ground. It is possible the most recent offending was just wanting to go back to jail,” she writes, describing a video of the 2021 arrest.

She says prosecutors acknowledged they could not show a likelihood that Prokopchuk would cause death or physical injuries in future.

Norrell ruled that multiple bank robberies Prokopchuk committed over the years, some with imitation firearms, did not involve overt violent threats or any “menacing” of the victimized bank tellers, concluding there is a “reasonable possibility of eventual control in the community.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press