5 Years For Thief, Blast for Government

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. -  Before handing down sentence to  Christopher Ross Blainey, B.C Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett  prefaced his reasons by addressing  comments made in the recent  Speech from the Throne

During the Speech from the Throne, the Lieutenant Governor read the  Government’s  concerns about  crime and  creating "safe supportive communities". 

“British Columbians want to understand why sentences in their province tend to be shorter than in other provinces for crimes such as homicide, theft, property crimes, fraud, impaired driving and drug possession.”  read the Lieutenant Governor.  The statement is inaccurate in that numbers from Statistics Canada indicate the opposite with the exception of impaired driving. 

The most current numbers from Statistics Canada, ( which are published annually and made available to  the Attorney’s General of all  Provinces and Territories)  show that when it  comes to  jail time for theft,  you are  more likely to jo to jail for that  conviction in B.C.  than in any other part of the country.  There  are also numbers to show  B.C.  is more likely to  put a  person convicted of robbery  behind bars.  The only  areas where B.C. has shown  to be  not as  tough as the rest of the country are  posession of a controlled substance and offences related to  drinking and driving. 

In the Throne Speech, the Province has promised a “comprehensive review of sentencing practices in B.C.” The Province will also “assess how the federal government’s anti-crime measures might affect demands on our police, Crown prosecutors, courts and correctional system.”

Justice Parret   said the  comments in the  Throne Speech were "Either a blatant publicity stunt,  or an  expression of genuine concern."  He said  he would choose to believe the latter, and  hoped the  terms of reference for any such review  would  include "The extent to which the Crown  has  been  staying charges, dealing down sentences and agreeing to joint submission presentations to the Court."

Justice Parrett  said the comments in the  Speech from the Throne were; "To the best of my knowledge, the first occasion  in which a such a forum has been used to criticize the judiciary anywhere in what used to  be called the British Commonwealth."  He also  commented the provincial Government knows the  constitutional authority  over the judiciary rests with the Federal Government.

The Judge pointed to the case at hand,  a robbery in which the robbery was  well planned, a firearm was used, the culprits wore masks, the convenience store clerk was threatened, and nearly $6,000 in cash taken.. "The endictment on this case was signed by John Sutton,  as Counsel and Agent of the Attorney General of B.C. and  the comment that  the Crown will be content with a sentence of one year."  Justice Parrett added "Those words, do not in any way suggest such a  sentence would be fit and proper."

In this particular case, the accused  has a previous record with  30 counts  arrising from a variety of property thefts.  The accused had already  spent 18 months in  custody waiting  to  have the case resolved.   If given  the standard 2 for every one day served, then   Blainey  would have already "served" 3 years, and the addition of  one more year (as was suggested by the Defense and Crown Counsels) would have meant  Blainey would be handed the minimum sentence of 4 years.  

Given the fact Blainey had so many previous convictions,  and had  an opportunity to change his mind and not  carry out the robbery,  Justice Parrett sentenced him to 5 years in total.   That means   Blainey  has two more years to serve before   freedom.

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