The life sentences of two teenagers convicted in the murder of a well-known Surrey mechanic have been overturned.
Paul Prestbakmo was stabbed to death near the Semiahmoo Center on August 16, 2019.
The famed mechanic was on his way to McDonald’s to pick up a pop when he was stabbed.
He was stabbed 42 times in 26 seconds.
The teens, then 15 and 16, were found guilty of second-degree murder.
They were later sentenced as adults and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least seven years.
However, on Friday, the teenagers won their appeal and their sentences were restored to the maximum allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which is seven years, including four years in prison.
“I’m sure right now it’s more like a slap on the wrist,” Elizabeth Prestbakmo, Paul’s sister, told Global News on Monday.
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“People who have committed other crimes will now only use this system to appeal.”
Elizabeth said her brother was a kind and generous man.
“He was a very generous man, he was gentle, he was kind, he would do anything for his friends, he was very loyal,” she said.
Elizabeth believes her brother’s killers will be released into society in November – four years after they were first sentenced.
The appeals court decision has its roots in last July’s Supreme Court of Canada decision, Rex v. IM, which overturned an adult sentence imposed on a juvenile who had been convicted of first-degree murder.
The court ruled that the Crown failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the juvenile had reached the maturity of an adult when the crime was committed.
–with files from Rumina Daya
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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