Ontario Court of Justice

Date: June 6, 2023 Court File No.: Toronto 10007262, 70008139, 70000732

Between:

HIS MAJESTY THE KING

— AND —

LIONEL BRIAN WILLIAMS

Before: Justice David S. Rose

Heard on: April 28, May 31, 2023 Reasons for Judgment released on: June 6, 2023

Counsel: Mr. T. Shreiter, Ms. M Birsan........................................................... counsel for the Crown The defendant Lionel Williams.............................................................. on his own behalf

Rose J.:

[1] On April 28, 2023 Mr. Williams appeared before me and asked to plead guilty to three counts of Assault. He had no lawyer, and resisted the Court’s encouragement to hire one, despite his apparent approval for a legal aid certificate. When he appeared for sentencing on May 31, 2023 he again resisted my suggestions to hire a lawyer to complete the proceedings, despite knowing that the Crown was seeking additional custody at the sentencing phase. The Crown seeks a custodial sentence of 9 – 12 months less pre-trial custody. Mr. Williams seeks a time served sentence.

[2] The charges are all assaults by Mr. Williams in the streets and common areas of downtown Toronto. None of the victims knew Mr. Williams before being suddenly attacked.

[3] On the 27th of November Mr. Williams entered Dundas subway station and punched Kestreal Gibson and walked away. TTC identified Mr. Williams by video surveillance. Mr. Williams was seen later that day standing on Dundas Street and was arrested. He was eventually released on a Form 10 Undertaking.

[4] On 1 December 2022 Ms. Alexis Gawlina was at a Tim Hortons outlet at Dundas and Jarvis. Mr. Williams was there too, talking gibberish. Ms. Gawlina did not speak to him. She collected her order and left the store. As she was walking away from the store on the north side of Dundas Street Mr. Williams ran at her from behind and punched her in the head causing her to fall into a live lane of traffic. She required no medical attention. Mr. Williams was located in a local shelter, arrested, held for a show cause hearing and released on his own Undertaking. Ms. Gawlina required no medical treatment from the incident. A video of this incident was played at sentencing. It is disturbing.

[5] On Jan. 22 2023 at 3 am Ms. Nicola Lightstone was walking her dog in Regent Park. Mr. Williams approached her and asked her for money but she refused. Mr. Williams followed her, blocked her path, and then punched her with closed fist. Mr. Williams was again identified by closed circuit televised video. He was arrested and has been in custody ever since.

[6] Victim input was received on May 31. Ms. Gibson said that she is a 35 year old woman living in downtown Toronto. This is not the first time Ms. Gibson has been attacked by a stranger. As she says “ I am still discovering all the ways these attacks have affected me but I can say that I live with the realization, like many others, that without reliability of an accountability in our legal justice system…we are all at peril”

[7] Ms. Lightstone said that the attack robbed her of her sense of security, safety and personal well-being. Her anxiety level has increased to the point where her quality of life is suffering. She does not feel safe out in public and does not trust people. She was off work for two weeks because of her injuries and is now left with feelings of helplessness and frustration. She now feels as if danger looms around every corner.

[8] I asked for a Pre-Sentence report for Mr. Williams. It is brief and only minimally helpful. There is no history of his dealings and contact with probation personnel despite having been the subject of several probation orders. It is unclear to me from reading the Pre-Sentence Report that probation staff are fully engaged with the prospect of having to supervise Mr. Williams.

[9] Mr. Williams is 36 years old and has lived on the streets since he was 18. He has a Grade 11 education and has never had a job for longer than 12 months. He has been supporting himself by O.D.S.P. but not currently. His principal life goal is to restore those benefits. Mr. Williams reports himself as an occasional marijuana user.

[10] Mr. Williams self reports as being diagnosed with schizophrenia and is clear that he will not take medication. There is no case history in the Pre-Sentence report and no follow-up plan. He confirmed his reluctance to get treatment for schizophrenia in Court with me. Apparently he is not under the care of any mental health professions. Apparently he is “…receptive to the idea of attending for anger management counselling”. As the Pre-Sentence Report writer says, “The probation officer is able to arrange anger management counselling for Mr. Williams as long as he agrees to attend and participate”.

[11] Mr. Williams has a criminal record which starts in 1998 and consumes come 6 pages. There are 25 entries for assaultive behavior and 23 entries for failing to comply with court orders. The criminal record also documents extensive entries for property crimes too. The longest sentence Mr. Williams has served was 6 months for Assault Causing Bodily Harm to a Peace Officer in 2020 in Moncton New Brunswick. The vast majority of Mr. Williams’ criminal record has custodial sentences measured in days or weeks. Viewed one way this is a record documenting petty crimes. I find otherwise. Mr. Williams has been assaulting people regularly and continuously for over 15 years. Reading the criminal record it would appear that he is continuously in and out of custody.

[12] On these offences Mr. Williams has been in custody for 139 real days which is the equivalent of 209 enhanced days at the statutory rate of 1 day pre-trial confinement equal to 1.5 days of credited custody. He has therefore already served the equivalent of 7 months custody.

[13] The Crown wants 9 – 12 months less Pre-trial custody, in other words another 2 – 5 months in jail followed by probation. In my discussion with Mr. Williams in Court he tells me that he wants a time served sentence.

[14] The aggravating factors in this case are numerous.

[15] These are unprovoked attacks on strangers who were doing nothing more than going about their daily lives as they are entitled to do. Getting a coffee, walking the dog, taking the subway - these are all the features and joys of living in a city. Mr. Williams’ three assaults caused personal injury to each of these three victims and has changed their daily lives for the worse. It is only by sheer luck that Ms. Gawlina did not get run over by a car.

[16] It is aggravating that Ms. Lightstone and Ms. Gawlina were assaulted while he was on release for his assault on Ms. Gibson. He violated the terms of his release. What is more, the availability of bail is something that the community is concerned with at the present time. When bail is violated like this, the community sees bail as something that should be restricted. To that extent Mr. Williams’ disregard for his release terms has now contributed to the community’s perception that bail should be restricted. It is rarely the successful bailees which attract public scrutiny. It is the bail violators which tend to attract attention.

[17] It is aggravating that unprovoked stranger attacks are a serious problem in Toronto. Mr. Williams’ attack on Ms. Gibson took place in a subway which is now a regular location for such assaults. In my time as a judge sitting in downtown Toronto it is apparent to me that there are far too many unprovoked stranger attacks. Mr. Williams’ case is regrettably far too common.

[18] Unprovoked stranger attacks reduce the quality of life for the people that inhabit the city. Residents and visitors to Toronto have a right to expect that they will not be attacked randomly as they go about their business, be it getting a coffee, walking the dog, or riding the subway. Unprovoked stranger attacks therefore hit not just the specific victims, in this case Ms. Gibson, Ms. Gawlina, and Ms. Lightstone, but the entire city. Everyone becomes fearful that they will be attacked and therefore restrict their movements accordingly. The TTC is important for everyone in the city, but those who cannot afford a private car rely on it to move about quickly and cheaply. Public transit is one of the things makes living in a city enjoyable, and unprovoked attacks on riders tends to ruin that.

[19] Mr. Williams’ criminal record is a seriously aggravating factor in this case. At 36 years old has a 6 page criminal record replete with offences of violence and failing to comply.

[20] The mitigating circumstances are minimal. Mr. Williams has been adamant that he wanted to plead guilty and quickly resolve his case. He has accepted responsibility thereby avoiding Ms. Gibson, Ms. Gawlina and Ms. Lightstone having to testify about being assaulted. These are to his credit.

[21] I find that Mr. Williams’ prospects for rehabilitation are minimal. He shows little to no insight into his behavior. His reluctance to get help for his psychological issues lead me to find that Mr. Williams is at a high risk to re-offend – and violently re-offend. I cannot force treatment on him for his schizophrenia. Not on this case. But, as I discussed with him in Court, at this rate, if Mr. Williams does not get help and stop re-offending violently he may well appear before the Court in the future facing a Long Term or Dangerous Offender Application. There is every reason to believe that Mr. Williams will attack a stranger violently at some time after he is released from custody. This is deeply troubling. With that said, I can only impose a custodial sentence which is permitted by law.

[22] What is frustrating for the Court is that there are limited options available on sentencing which will reduce the likelihood of re-offending. Probation and ancillary orders will go some distance, but they will not provide the level of supervision which will significantly reduce the risk to the public by Mr. Williams’ release from custody. Mr. Williams is homeless, has schizophrenia, and acts out violently toward strangers. He has generally little ability to comply with the Court orders meant to keep the public safe and rehabilitate him. What is needed is a more robust supervision and help program for those offenders who have some combination of a history of violence, mental health challenges, homelessness and substance abuse issues. Currently all that is available is regular probation.

[23] With that said, there are possible ways to deal with the problems of random stranger assaults. Other jurisdictions have examined the problem of random stranger attacks and come up with a list of recommendations. One notable example is from last summer in British Columbia, where the Butler LePard Report provided 28 recommendations to that government on dealing with unprovoked stranger attacks, see https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/InvestigationRecommendations.pdf.

[24] It is not for a judge of the Ontario Court to suggest policy to the government to tackle random stranger attacks in the community. Municipalities, legislatures and Parliament are well suited to take up that task. It is their role. I encourage them to take up the task quickly. Random stranger assaults cannot be permitted to become commonplace. The lack of effective follow up supervision for someone like Mr. Williams will simply permit him to re-offend as he did in these three cases.

[25] With this in mind, I find that deterrence and denunciation rise to the fore as applicable principles of sentencing. I also find that Mr. Williams must be separated from society for a period of time. Rehabilitation is also a factor.

[26] Mr. Williams has now served 7 months in jail. Given the numerous aggravating circumstances I would impose a sentence of 12 months, subtracting from that the 7 months served. Those sentences will be concurrent. Mr. Williams will have a further 5 months in jail on each charge concurrently.

[27] Once Mr. Williams is released from custody he will be bound by a probation order for 3 years. The terms will be:

• report to a probation officer in person within 2 business days of his release from custody. Report at least twice per week in person to a probation office for the first 2 months of probation, and once a week in person for the next 6 months, every two weeks for the following year. Thereafter at all times as directed by the probation officer.
• No direct or indirect contact with Alexis GAWLINA, Nicola LIGHTSTONE, or Kestrel GIBSON;
• Do not be anywhere these individuals are known to live work, school or frequent;
• Do not attend the Tim Hortons at 175 Dundas Street East, or Dundas Subway Station, except if passing by on transit;
• Do not attend within 50m of 82 St. David Street
• Take counselling for psychiatric issues, and sign any forms to enable the probation office to monitor enrollment attendance and completion of those programs.
• No weapons

[28] There will be a s. 110 order for 10 years, and DNA sampling is ordered as secondary designated offences for all three charges. It appears that Mr. Williams is indigent and so the victim fine surcharges are waived.

Released: June 6, 2023 Signed: Justice D. Rose