Dangerous offender hearing comes to an end

Ajudge should lock up Ronald Teneycke and throw away the key, the high-profile criminal’s most recent victim said Tuesday at the close of a dangerous-offender hearing in Penticton.

“And I think the community at large wants the same thing,” added Wayne Belleville.

“He’s terrorized the South Okanagan long enough.”

Belleville was shot in the back by Teneycke on a forestry road outside Oliver in July 2015, after stopping to offer Teneycke a ride.

The truck was destroyed following a police chase a few days later that ended in a Cawston orchard with the arrest of Teneycke at gunpoint.

Teneycke later pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to wound and flight from a peace officer in connection with those incidents, plus robbery and using a firearm to commit a robbery in relation to the holdup of an Oliver convenience store six days earlier.

As a result of those convictions, plus dozens of others before them, the Crown is seeking to have Teneycke declared a dangerous offender and jailed indefinitely.

Defence counsel Michael Welsh conceded Tuesday that Teneycke should be labelled a dangerous offender, but suggested his prison sentence should run 10 to 12 years — minus 3 1/2 years’ enhanced credit for time served — followed by a long-term supervision order of five to seven years.

Those terms, Welsh argued, would provide enough time behind bars for Teneycke to receive treatment and counselling that would “adequately” protect the public from him reoffending upon his release.

Welsh explained his client had a “chaotic” childhood, marked by severe abuse, the murder of his sister and watching his step-father commit suicide. Further complicating things, Teneycke was a child of incest and “disconnected” from his Metis roots.

And now, at the age of 55, Teneycke is suffering from leukemia, anxiety, depression, personality disorder, anti-social traits, Hepatitis C, diabetes, arthritis and gout.

Those illnesses have “changed the circumstances in terms of his physical abilities,” according to Welsh, making Teneycke less of a danger to the community.

The Crown suggested that if Teneycke isn’t locked up indefinitely, he should be jailed for 24 to 28 years.

Teneycke’s criminal record began in 1981 and contains 37 convictions, including many violent offences.

He was the subject of a public warning in 2007 after his release from prison following a 12-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenager and threatening to kill a correctional officer.

Provincial court Judge Richard Hewson will deliver his decision on the dangerous-offender application on an as-yet undetermined date, likely early in the new year.

He’s terrorized the South Okanagan long enough. Wayne Belleville