Jacquie Pemberton

This decision concerns the sentencing of J.B., a young Black male, for serious offences stemming from a pharmacy robbery.

The court applied principles from the Youth Criminal Justice Act and general sentencing principles, with a particular focus on the impact of anti-Black racism and the role of Enhanced Pre-Sentence Reports (EPSRs).

The court considered aggravating factors such as the seriousness of the offence and harm to victims, alongside mitigating factors including J.B.'s troubled upbringing, exposure to systemic racism, and his newfound role as a father.

Despite the Crown seeking a custodial sentence, the court imposed a non-custodial sentence of 24 months probation with various conditions, emphasizing rehabilitation and reintegration while acknowledging the systemic barriers faced by racialized individuals.

The accused, Nakhari Henry-Robinson, pleaded guilty to possession of a loaded restricted firearm, careless storage of a firearm, and breaches of a release order and a probation order.

The court considered aggravating factors, including a significant and related criminal record and the dangerous nature of possessing a loaded firearm in a public place.

Mitigating factors included an early guilty plea, the accused's youth (22 years old), challenging social context (anti-Black racism, poverty, exposure to gun violence), and harsh pre-sentence custody conditions due to lockdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The judge emphasized denunciation and deterrence as primary sentencing principles for firearms offences, rejecting the defence's argument for a conditional sentence or time served.

The court imposed a sentence of 40 months for the firearm offence, with concurrent sentences for the other charges, resulting in 17.5 months of additional jail time after accounting for pre-sentence custody credit.

N.M., a young person, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of his foster father.

The Crown sought an adult sentence, arguing N.M. had sufficient maturity and that a youth sentence would be insufficient for accountability.

The court considered N.M.'s disadvantaged background, emotional development issues, and the cumulative pressures he faced, including racism and family dysfunction.

The judge found that the Crown failed to rebut the presumption of diminished moral blameworthiness and that a youth sentence could hold N.M. accountable.

N.M. was sentenced to a youth sentence of seven years, comprising three-and-a-half years in custody and three-and-a-half years under conditional supervision, with no credit for pre-sentence custody.

The accused, a racialized single mother with a history of socio-economic disadvantage, was convicted by a jury of importing 1,390 grams of cocaine.

The Crown sought a sentence of four to five years imprisonment, while the defence sought a conditional sentence.

The court considered the aggravating factors of the quantity and nature of the drug, and the mitigating factors including the accused's lack of a criminal record, compliance with bail, and systemic racial and socio-economic disadvantages.

The court found that a conditional sentence was inappropriate but deviated below the established range of four to six years due to the systemic forces that constrained the accused's choices, sentencing her to three years imprisonment.