CITATION: R. v. McQuade, 2009 ONCA 22

DATE: 20090112

DOCKET: C43303

COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

Moldaver, Borins and Blair JJ.A.

BETWEEN:

Her Majesty The Queen

Respondent

and

Brendan McQuade

Appellant

Neil R. Jones, for the appellant

John McInnes, for the respondent

Heard and endorsed: January 8, 2009

On appeal from sentence imposed by Justice Anton Zuraw of the Ontario Court of Justice dated December 3, 2004.

APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT

[1] The appellant was engaged in two robberies. In the first, he held a loaded gun; in the second, he inflicted extreme gratuitous violence on two employees, leaving them with serious and lasting injuries. His co-accused, who was 25 at the time of the offence and had a prior criminal record involving 39 convictions, including convictions for violence and the use of a firearm, received a sentence of 15 years. This court upheld that sentence on appeal.

[2] The appellant’s case is different. He was 19 at the time of these offences and he had no prior record. By all accounts, his conduct in the commission of these crimes appeared to be an aberrational. We are told that over the past four years, while in custody, he has been doing well and is now on day parole and enrolled in an engineering course at a school in Toronto.

[3] Taking these factors into account and considering the range of sentences imposed by this court in like cases, including R. v. Zlatanov, [2007] O.J. No. 2646, R. v. Brown, 2006 19424 (ON SC), [2006] O.J. No. 2291 and R. v. Lynds, [1987] O.J. No. 1024, we think that the sentence of 11 years imposed by the trial judge is excessive and should be reduced to eight years.

[4] Accordingly, leave to appeal is granted and the sentence is reduced to eight years.