Murder appeal denied in Gastown club shooting

The B.C. Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal of a man convicted of two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder in a 2004 shooting outside a nightclub in Vancouver's Gastown area.

Imran Saff Sharif was found guilty in 2006 of killing Richard Hui and Rachel Davis outside the Purple Onion club. Sharif, who was 25 at the time of the crime, went on a shooting spree after getting involved in an altercation outside the club, killing the two and wounding several others.

Davis, 23, was leaving the club at the time and intervened to protect a teenage boy from being assaulted by a group of men.

Sharif was also found guilty of five counts of attempted murder and five counts of aggravated assault in the shootings of five other people standing nearby who were wounded in the melee.

Sharif appealed, challenging the trial judge's decision to allow statements made by three witnesses, but the appeal court said Friday the judge was not wrong to allow the evidence.

Sharif's conviction invoked an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Davis, was the daughter of actors Bruce Davis and Janet Wright, best-known for her role in the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas. She was posthumously awarded a Medal of Bravery by Governor General Michaëlle Jean in 2007.