A Surrey provincial court judge sentenced a man with an B次元官网网址渆xtremely aggravatingB次元官网网址� criminal record to two yearsB次元官网网址� house arrest and probation after police stopped a taxi in Whalley and found an empty bottle of vodka and unloaded modified SKS rifle inside his backpack.

The court heard Owen Reginald Bitternose, 43, had been drinking and B次元官网网址渉anging outB次元官网网址� with some people outside a hotel on 104 Avenue in Surrey on Nov. 7, 2020. B次元官网网址淥ne of the men he was hanging out with decided to go with him to his place to hang out and continue to drink,B次元官网网址� Judge Valliammai Chettiar noted in his

A Surrey Mountie doing traffic patrol at 105A Avenue and King George Boulevard spotted a taxi that was stopped, with its hazard lights on, checked it out and the cabbie told the officer there was an intoxicated man in the backseat, yelling racial slurs and punching the glass divider. The Mountie arrested Bitternose for causing a disturbance and found the unloaded rifle and bottle, but no ammo.

Bitternose pleaded guilty to possessing the gun without a licence and possessing B次元官网网址� while already under two lifetime firearms bans B次元官网网址� a modified SKS rifle which the defence noted is not a restricted weapon, although its length was shortened.

The Crown sought a federal prison term of two years and a lifetime ban on possessing firearms, while the defence argued for two years less a day of house arrest followed by two yearsB次元官网网址� probation. Chettiar sentenced him to the latter, as well as a third lifetime firearms ban.

B次元官网网址淢r. Bitternose has spent the better part of his life in jail,B次元官网网址� the judge noted. B次元官网网址淗e appears resolute from the time he was placed on the release order in November 2020 to change his life around. He appears to have made effective use of this time by engaging in self-reflection, making plans for his future, and attending educational programs and counselling to assist in his rehabilitation. It serves no purpose to incarcerate him, adding to the overrepresentation of Indigenous offenders in custody.B次元官网网址�

Bitternose is to keep a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the first 12 months, is not to drink alcohol or use drugs without a prescription, enter liquor stores, pubs, nightclubs or beer gardens, and must undergo counselling.

B次元官网网址淭he defence agrees with the Crown that deterrence, denunciation and protection of the public are important sentencing principles in this case, but emphasizes that equally important is Mr. BitternoseB次元官网网址檚 rehabilitation. I agree,B次元官网网址� Chettiar decided.

The court heard BitternoseB次元官网网址檚 sister was murdered in 2019, his mother died in 2000 or 2001 from cirrhosis as a result of chronic alcoholism, and his father died in 2021 from Covid-19.

B次元官网网址淢ultiple generations of Mr. BitternoseB次元官网网址檚 family attended the GordonB次元官网网址檚 Indian Residential School, including his grandparents, parents, brother and himself,B次元官网网址� Chettiar noted, adding Bitternose spent a B次元官网网址渟ignificant partB次元官网网址� of his adulthood in federal prison in Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

B次元官网网址淗e has an unenviable criminal record. The Crown points out that Mr. Bitternose has been convicted of an offence at least once a year since 1996. Mr. BitternoseB次元官网网址檚 offences gradually escalated from property and driving related offences to more serious and violent offences, including aggravated assault, assaulting a peace officer, robbery, and discharging a firearm with intent,B次元官网网址� the judge added. B次元官网网址淎t the time of the index offences, Mr. Bitternose was already on two mandatory lifetime firearm bans.B次元官网网址�

Chettiar noted the Crown opposed the conditional sentence given BitternoseB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渟ignificant criminal record and public safety concerns.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he Crown says Mr. Bitternose has an extremely aggravating record with serious offences, including aggravated assault, assault of a peace officer, robbery, and discharge of a firearm with intent; he has been under a s. 109 prohibition order since 1999, and yet he was found in possession of the rifle in a taxi, in a public place, when he had been out of custody for only approximately six months; and the fact that he was intoxicated, while in possession of the rifle in a public place adds to his recklessness.B次元官网网址�

The defence argued that the Supreme Court of Canada B次元官网网址渃alls upon judges to use a different method of analysis in determining a fit sentenceB次元官网网址� for Indigenous offenders, the judge noted, and that the principles of denunciation and deterrence could be satisfied by a conditional sentence order (house arrest).

B次元官网网址淚 am not satisfied that Mr. Bitternose intentionally took the risk of possessing the rifle in a public place,B次元官网网址� the judge concluded. B次元官网网址淢r. Bitternose was highly intoxicated during the incident, and was in the company of other likely unsavory people. He does not know how he came into possession of the rifle. The rifle was not loaded, and no one was harmed during the incident.B次元官网网址�

Chettiar noted the courts must take into account B次元官网网址渟uch matters as the history of colonialism, displacement, and residential schools and how that history continues to translate into lower educational attainment, lower incomes, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse and suicide, and of course higher levels of incarceration for Aboriginal peoples.

B次元官网网址淭hese matters, on their own, do not necessarily justify a different sentence for Aboriginal offenders,B次元官网网址� the judge continued. B次元官网网址淩ather, they provide the necessary context for understanding and evaluating the case-specific information presented by counsel.B次元官网网址�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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