West Van man will serve no jail time for beheading a relative

A man from a prominent West Vancouver family who beheaded a relative in what a judge called a violent and unprovoked attack will avoid jail time and instead serve a three-month conditional sentence in the community.

Darin Carlos Slade Diligenti, 51, received a lighter sentence in BC Supreme Court on April 26 following a successful appeal of a six-month prison sentence handed down in 2022.

Diligenti was given the initial sentence by North Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Lyndsay Smith, who found Diligenti guilty of assault causing bodily harm for a violent attack on his half-brother Anthony Smith at their parents’ home in West Vancouver in 2019.

Diligenti had been bailed pending appeal.

At the initial sentencing hearing in provincial court, Diligenti told the judge through his lawyer that the incident was part of a long-running family feud between the half-siblings in the blended family and that the attack should be considered in that context.

But Smith dismissed this, saying Diligenti’s actions were unprovoked and intended to cause pain and injury.

The judge added that the inexplicable violence “must be denounced in the strongest terms”.

According to information presented in the original trial, the attack took place in a cul-de-sac near the home of the men’s parents in West Vancouver. Smith had gone home to do some electrical work at his father’s request, while Diligenti had shown up to have coffee with his mother.

At some point, the two men met at the property and Diligenti began making offensive comments to Smith, who did not respond, the judge said. But when Smith turned and walked toward him, Diligenti dropped his shoulders “tilting his head back and then slamming it forward so that his forehead connected with (Smith’s),” according to a witness.

Smith fell back to the pavement, briefly losing consciousness and his nose began to bleed.

A CT scan at Lions Gate Hospital later showed her nose was fractured, the judge wrote. The assault should be considered more serious because Diligenti knew about a head injury Smith had previously suffered, the judge said.

In the appeal, Michael Klein, Diligenti’s lawyer, argued that the prison sentence was “disproportionate and unreasonably harsh” and that a suspended sentence – to be served outside prison – was more appropriate.

BC Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan agreed.

While the BC Supreme Court judge said Diligenti clearly provoked the fight, she found he had no detailed knowledge of his victim’s prior head injury, as the prosecutor claimed.

The judge also agreed with Klein that it is unfair to require Diligenti to prove he is not a danger to the community.

While Diligenti’s explanation – that he was defending himself – was “not objectively reasonable”, it was “an explanation for why he behaved as he did”, the judge said, “although not a particularly satisfactory or broom”.

The judge replaced the original prison sentence with a new three-month suspended sentence, and between 10pm and 6am, Diligenti was ordered to perform 25 hours of community service.

Another BC Supreme Court judge previously dismissed Diligenti’s appeal of the conviction.

Smith died in 2023 before the appeal of the case could be heard.