House Arrest for Ottawa teen stabber in bus seat dispute

House arrest for teen stabber in bus seat dispute 

A teen girl who knifed a man on crutches on an OC Transpo bus in a dispute over a seat was handed three months of house arrest and probation Thursday.

Ontario Court Justice Lise Maisonneuve argued that an armed assault on a stranger —whose lung collapsed — is too serious for the probation order sought by the defence.

“This is a violent crime where a knife was used,” she said. “(The victim) was on a public bus when this occurred.”

But she noted that the 17-year-old has no criminal record, works and goes to school and comes from a supportive family.

“It appears to be out of character for her to act as she did,” Maisonneuve said.

The girl pleaded guilty in November to aggravated assault in connection with the incident near Blair and Montreal roads on June 12, 2009.

According to a witness, 29-year-old Dan McGlynn, whose ankle was in a cast, had his things, including his crutches, on four seats. The girl got angry and the two started name-calling.

The girl started kicking McGlynn’s cast and a pushing match ensued. The girl’s friend tried to break it up but the girl — armed with a knife — yelled that she was going to stab McGlynn if he didn’t shut up.

He kept pushing her and called her a bitch. When he reached for the knife, she stabbed him and fled, leaving McGlynn badly hurt and screaming for an ambulance.

He wrote in a victim impact statement that he feared he’d die, leaving his four-year-old daughter fatherless.

“She would have grown up never knowing her father,” he wrote. “Why? For one of many seats on a bus.”

Noting that judges have to focus on rehabilitation and consider all options other than jail when sentencing youths, Maisonneuve handed the girl three months of deferred custody during which she can only go to school, work or go out with her parents and has a strict curfew, then 21 months of probation.

She also has to write a letter of apology to McGlynn, submitted a DNA sample to the national registry and is banned from possessing weapons.

The girl said she carried a knife when she would be out after dark because she and a girlfriend had been chased. 

I think this sentence is completely appropriate because youths are supposed to be rehabilitated because prison can actually cause further recidivism and criminal activities. This girl has no record and goes to school and work and this is completely appropriate.

Graffiti artist plead guilty to mischief of property and must help victims of his vandalism

Judge orders "tagger" to help his vandalism victims

- Michael Hudey won’t have much time now for graffiti and spray paint.

- A judge has sentenced the convicted “tagger” to 20 months house arrest and ordered he perform 440 hours community service work — ideally for people whose property he vandalized.

- “That’s better than coughing up some money,” said Judge Lynne Stannard. “You have to meet the people you hurt.”

- Nearly half of the community service work is to be completed during three years of supervised probation.

- Hudey, 24, pleaded guilty last summer to approximately 50 counts of mischief to property.

- Hudey was one of six busy graffiti taggers arrested in a police round-up in late 2008. Hudey and two cohorts were arrested in November after going on a tagging spree along Tache Avenue and Provencher Boulevard.

- Police caught the trio with cans of spray paint and other “graffiti paraphernalia,” their hands still wet with paint. Hudey’s cellphone was found to contain several pictures of his work that night.

- “The city of Winnipeg is not a canvas to be painted upon,” Stannard said Tuesday. “These are people’s properties and they work hard to maintain them.”

- Community prosecutor Susan Helenchilde said Hudey has kept his hands clean since his arrest and is working full-time as a cook.

- According to a pre-sentence report, Hudey told a probation officer he “defined himself as a graffiti artist, stating that mechanics work on cars, hence artists paint.”

- “I hope that is not Mr. Hudey trying to justify painting on property that belongs to other people,” Helenchilde said. “I take it that he gets it now.”

Hudey said he did.

- “I always liked graffiti. I grew up with it,” he said. “I never saw the victims behind it. It was just paint on buildings.”

- Stannard adjourned sentencing last summer to consider further submissions on a restitution plan. Court heard Tuesday only one of Hudey’s victims has submitted a receipt for repairs to vandalized property.

-“I can’t order an amount of restitution that I probably think is appropriate,” Stannard said. -“It’s concerning to me that we weren’t able to receive that sort of information.”

I think that this is an appropriate sentence for this man, but I also feel that he should be shown alternate ways in which he can express his artistic side, besides graffiti. 

Sentence of house arrest overturned for violent criminal

Court of Appeal overturns house arrest for violent criminal

- On Feb.18th, 21 year old Seif Ali's previous sentence of a one year condtional sentence, which allowed him to serve his time in the community under house arrest, was overturned and replaced by the Manitoba Court of Appeal with a 9 month prison sentence.
- The Judge said, "He should not have been considered as an acceptable candidate for a conditional sentence. He committed a brutal attack on a much younger individual who had done nothing to provoke such an attack."
- Last year, Seif was found guilty of aggravated assault for a violent attack outside Kelvin High School in Winnipeg. 
- He claimed he acted in self defense when he kicked a 15 year old boy in the head, leaving him with a broken jaw. 
- At the trial, the Judge said that "the force he used was far more than necessary and was excessive and unjustified." 
- The victim had brought a machete to school to "frighten people and never intended any harm" against a fight that was happening at the school.
- A verbal confrontation took place with the victim and the accused. 
- The accused grabbed the machete from the victim and in turn, assaulted him. 
- The victim was not hit with the machete 
- With the conditional sentence, Ali was allowed to venture 2 kms from his home, at any time of day or night as long as he had his one and a half year old sister with him.
- He was instructed to leave a voice message with his conditional sentence supervisor each time he left or returned from a walk through the neighbourhood and was not allowed to leave his home by himself at any time during the first four months but could be away from 6 am - 8 pm during the final 8 months.
- But throughout the entire sentence, day or night, he had to have his baby sister with him.
- At trial, the Crown has suggested a 30 month jail sentence but the Judge rejected the self defence claim and the sentence, saying she didnt want to put this man in an environment filled with other criminals who may take advantage of his vulnerability. 
- At the trial, it was determined that this man was of a medium risk to re-offend violently and Ali admitted that he had a problem with anger management. 
- During his conditional sentence, he was ordered to attend counselling and treatment, perform 50 hours of community service and meet with the victim to express his remorse. 

Liberal version of house arrest 
Judge critic questions assault sentence


I completely agree with the decision to overturn his previous sentence into a prison term of 9 months. This was a violent and unprovoked attack and if he was deemed to be a medium risk, why was he given a conditional sentence? If their is a medium risk to the public, he should be held in custody for some period of time. He should also be required to attend anger management programs in prison while he is there.