Lawyers argue about jail sentence
James Pendergast of Bell Island will be sentenced next month for setting fire to ex-girlfriend’s home
A man who broke into his exgirlfriend’s Bell Island home in the middle of the night and set it on fire will have to wait until November to learn his fate.
Crown prosecutor Paul Thistle is looking for a jail sentence of between four and five years for 46-year-old James Pendergast, who was convicted in August of break and entry and arson in connection with the incident, which happened in February.
Pendergast’s lawyer, Jason Edwards, is hoping for a sentence closer to three years.
The lawyers agree Pendergast should get enhanced credit — at a rate of 1.5 to one — for the days he has already spent in custody, where he remains.
Thistle and Edwards made their submissions to provincial court Judge Jacqueline Brazil in St. John’s Friday morning. Pendergast’s ex-girlfriend filed a victim impact statement with the court, but it was not read aloud.
Brazil is scheduled to deliver her sentencing decision Nov.
30.
During Pendergast’s trial, a couple living next door to his ex-girlfriend testified they were awoken by the sound of breaking glass around 4 a.m. on Feb.
10. They said they looked outside and saw Pendergast, whom they both knew, reaching inside a broken door window and unlocking the door. They said they watched him go inside the home and could see him moving around and briefly turning on the light before leaving, reaching back in through the broken glass to lock the door as he left. As Pendergast got to the end of the driveway, the couple testified, they noticed smoke coming from the eaves of the home.
It was later determined that the fire had been intentionally set in a box of clothing and books in a storage room off the living room of the residence.
Pendergast told the court he had been close friends with his ex-girlfriend and had decided to pay her a visit. When he got close to her door, he said, he noticed the glass had been broken. He said he was worried about the woman and went inside the house to look for her, though he didn’t check her bedroom. When he realized she wasn’t home, he left, he said.
Pendergast offered an explanation for the arson: he said whomever had broken into the woman’s house must have hid in her bedroom while he was inside looking for her, then set the fire as he was leaving, before leaving unnoticed.