‘It’s there for your help, not your punishment’

St. John’s judge sentences extortionist to jail time, but notes counselling is more important

A St. John’s man who asked the court for leniency on charges of extortion and fraud was given just over six more months to serve behind bars Friday, with the judge stressing that jail time was not the most valuable part of his sentence.

Provincial court Judge Mike Madden ordered 29-year-old Seamus Flynn to undergo counselling for substance abuse, telling him it was “probably the most important part” of his sentence.

“It’s there for your help, not your punishment,” Madden explained.

At his sentencing hearing last week, Flynn told Madden he had been addicted to IV drugs at the time he committed the crimes at hand, to which he had pleaded guilty.

Flynn earned the extortion charge after he forced an acquaintance to drive to a gas station ATM and withdraw $800, telling him that he would kill him and his girlfriend if he didn’t do it and give him the money.

Over the next number of weeks, Flynn repeatedly called the man and demanded more money, threatening to visit him at work. As a result, the court heard, the man became frightened to leave his house.

The fraud charge was laid after Flynn skipped out on a $60 cab fare, leaving the taxi driver waiting outside his father’s house in the west end of St. John’s for about an hour. At one point he came out of the house and threw a rock in the direction of the taxi, saying, “What do I have to do to get you out of here?”

Flynn also earned charges after he failed to show up in court on two occasions for scheduled appearances, and for breaching court orders.

Last October, he and another man were arrested on suspicion of breaking into parking meters downtown. Officers found Flynn carrying a pocketknife, despite having been ordered not to carry concealed weapons.

Flynn has been in custody since Jan. 4.

Madden said the Crown’s suggested two-year jail term for the extortion alone was too much, though the defence’s suggestion of four months was not enough. He sentenced Flynn to nine months in custody for the extortion charge — minus credit for 166 days credit served on remand — and a total of 90 more days for the order breaches and failing to appear in court.

For skipping out on the cab fare, Madden sentenced Flynn to a suspended sentence and a year of probation to begin when he is released from jail. That means he will have to abide by his conditions or go back to prison.

Madden also ordered Flynn to pay back the $800 he took from the acquaintance and the $60 he owes to the cab driver.

The judge acknowledged Flynn’s insight into his drug addiction and his efforts to rehabilitate since he has been in custody, but stressed the seriousness of the extortion incident and the psychological impact it had on the victim.

“It is not a justification,” Madden said of Flynn’s drug addiction. “It is not an excuse. It mattered not to the victim.”

Flynn has other matters yet to come through the courts. On April 26, he will go to trial on charges of assault and theft from his father.