A week before he was to be tried for unlawful confinement and possessing drugs and illegal weapons, Vancouver businessman David Ho struck a deal that spared him a high-profile trial that would have included video evidence of his struggles with a prostitute in his Shaughnessy mansion.
Ho, who used to own an airline and controls the lease on the University Golf Club, pleaded guilty Thursday to unlawful confinement of a woman he hired for sex on Dec.
The drug possession charge was dropped but Ho was ordered to complete drug counselling. And he pleaded guilty to a separate weapons charge, laid after he tried to board a flight last February with a switchblade in his carry-on luggage. Ho, 59, who smiled when he entered court and sat quietly wearing a dark suit, dark checked shirt and dark tie, was also ordered to complete 45 hours of community service.
He spoke only once, rising to issue a brief apology to his victim. Crown prosecutor Elliot Poll told court how Ho had met the woman online and picked her up from her Delta home, agreeing to pay her for sex. Eventually her bra was removed before she broke free and jumped over a 2. Doust told court Ho pleaded guilty to confinement because he admits he used unreasonable force to detain the woman, but said he was trying to stop her from fleeing into the cold without her jacket and shoes.
Doust said Ho wanted instead to drive her back to Delta, knowing there was no public transit or taxis in the area and it had recently snowed 15 centimetres. At one point when the woman had locked herself in his car in the garage, Ho showed her the keys and offered to drive her.
