Drop this case and let Tippett rot in prison

Stanley Tippett is a monster. There is no getting around that fact. It is possible to feel empathy for Tippett. He was dealt an exceedingly bad hand by life, fate, circumstance ... whatever view an outsider might take.

He was born with a physical deformity, Treacher Collins syndrome, that led to bullying and harassment as a child. He has a below normal IQ and, whether the result of heredity or learned behaviour, is missing the capacity for moral judgment and understanding that qualifies people as members of civil society.

He was convicted of kidnapping and raping a drunken 12-year-old Peterborough girl nearly a decade ago. Prior to that he was a suspect in the unsolved murder of a Toronto teenager. Those are only the worst of his proven or suspected crimes.

As a result of what he has done and his inability to accept or acknowledge guilt, remorse or his own need for rehabilitation, Tippett was declared a dangerous offender.

In the absence of the death sentence, that is the biggest hammer the Canadian justice system owns. It was dropped on Tippett to protect society from him. That was the right decision.

For seven years he has been in penitentiary on an indefinite sentence. Every year the Canada Parole Board assesses whether the terms of his custody should be relaxed. Every year to date it has decided he is still too dangerous to re-enter society on even the most limited scale.

That is also the right decision and likely will be for as long as he lives.

So why is the justice system also continuing to prosecute Tippett for an outlandish scheme that should simply be filed away and forgotten?

Back when he was in jail awaiting trial, Tippett allegedly approached a fellow inmate with an offer: Lie for me about happened on that night when the 12-year-old was kidnapped and I’ll pay you off with some of the money from a civil suit I’m going to file.

Tippett was charged with obstruction of justice for that scheme but his court case ended in a mistrial when jurors were unable to reach a verdict.

Small wonder. Tippett routinely fires his lawyers and changes his story. The inmate who was the Crown’s chief witness was barely more reliable. The case was a gong show.

Yet the Crown wants to repeat it, with no apparent benefit in sight.

Stanley Tippett is where he belongs. Another conviction for obstructing justice, if it can be won, won’t keep him there any longer. What it will do is clog up the courts and add to his cost to society in time and money.

Whatever the motivation for prosecution, it is misguided. Drop the case and move on.