The Crown appealed the sentence imposed on the respondent for breaking into a home, stealing a loaded handgun, and selling it for drugs.
The sentencing judge imposed a one-year sentence for the firearm offence and a consecutive 12-month conditional sentence for the break and enter.
The Court of Appeal found the conditional sentence was illegal because the maximum penalty for break and enter is life imprisonment.
The majority allowed the appeal, imposing a three-year global sentence and ordering the respondent to serve the remaining 479 days in custody, emphasizing denunciation and deterrence.
The dissenting judge would have stayed the remaining sentence to avoid reincarceration.
