DATE: 20060721

DOCKET: C44957

COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

RE:

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) – and – YVONNE POUTNEY (Applicant/Appellant)

BEFORE:

GILLESE, LANG and MACFARLAND JJ.A.

COUNSEL:

Sam Scratch

for the appellant

Elise Nakelsky

for the respondent

HEARD & ENDORSED:

July 17, 2006

On appeal from the sentence imposed by Justice Gladys I. Pardu of the Superior Court of Justice on January 20, 2006.

A P P E A L B O O K E N D O R S E M E N T

[1] This is an appeal from a sixteen‑month sentence imposed by the trial judge, Pardu J. The appellant, a bookkeeper, stole more than $300,000.00 from her employer over more than three‑years. It would appear that a significant cause behind the thefts relates to the appellant’s gambling addiction, which in turn she attributes to post traumatic stress disorder.

[2] While acknowledging the significant degree of deference to be given to a trial judge’s sentence, the appellant argues that the trial judge in this case erred in principle in two ways.

[3] First, the appellant argues that the trial judge did not give appropriate weight to the appellant’s mental health diagnoses. However, in her reasons, the trial judge clearly considered the appellant’s status as a pathological gambler and noted the resulting need for compassion in sentencing. We see no error in the weight she attributed to this factor.

[4] Second, the appellant argues that the trial judge failed to consider whether a conditional sentence could be constructed to reduce the established risk of a relapse. In our view, however, the trial judge was alive to the appellant’s commendable progress in therapy and the importance of ongoing treatment.

[5] However, the trial judge balanced these factors with the need for denunciation in arriving at an appropriate sentence. We see no error in this regard.

[6] Accordingly, leave to appeal sentence is granted and the appeal is dismissed.