Court File and Parties

CITATION: R. v. Siddiqui, 2008 ONCA 312

DATE: 20080424

DOCKET: C47455

COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

JURIANSZ, MACFARLAND and WATT JJ.A.

BETWEEN:

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

Respondent

and

UMAIR SIDDIQUI

Appellant

Counsel: Richard Litkowski for the appellant Nadia Thomas for the respondent

Heard & released orally: April 18, 2008

On appeal from the sentence imposed by Justice A.D. Cooper of the Ontario Court of Justice dated April 27, 2007.

ENDORSEMENT

[1] The appellant appeals the sentence of twenty-one months in jail and three years probation he received after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud, two counts of personation and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. He has served three months of that sentence. He submits that the trial judge erred by failing to impose a conditional sentence.

[2] The trial judge recognized that the paramount consideration in cases of large scale frauds such as this are denunciation and general deterrence. He turned his mind to whether a conditional sentence should be imposed in the particular circumstances including, as we read his reasons, the mitigating factors present in this case. The trial judge also took the mitigating factors into account by reducing the sentence that he otherwise thought fit.

[3] The appellant has not demonstrated any error in principle or that the sentence is clearly unreasonable. The appeal must be dismissed.

“R.G. Juriansz J.A.”

“J. MacFarland J.A.”

“David Watt J.A.”