Amanda Taylor

The defendant, Robert Shah, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of robbery and assault, including aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm, against three female victims.

He was also found guilty of sexual assault after a trial.

The sentencing judge considered the severe physical and psychological impact on the victims, the defendant's criminal record involving prior assaults against women, and his apparent lack of insight into his violent and sexually inappropriate conduct.

The court emphasized the paramount importance of general and specific deterrence, denunciation, and public protection.

Despite the defendant's late guilty plea and some pre-trial custody credit for harsh conditions, the court imposed a global sentence at the lower end of the Crown's requested range, recognizing it as the defendant's first federal penitentiary sentence.

The accused pleaded guilty to multiple counts of robbery and aggravated assault but proceeded to trial on one count of sexual assault against a female pedestrian.

The accused testified, claiming he was highly intoxicated and denying the sexual elements of the attack, despite having given a police statement claiming no memory of the events.

The trial judge rejected the accused's evidence as entirely unconvincing, applied the W.(D.) framework, and accepted the complainant's evidence that the accused tugged at her pants while demanding she 'get naked or give me money'.

The court found the elements of sexual assault proven beyond a reasonable doubt and entered a conviction.