Attacker’s sentence ‘ludicrous’
Gunman gets 12-year prison term for shooting outside Annex office
A well-known Toronto defence lawyer who survived being shot says his attacker’s 12-year sentence is “ludicrous” and there would be no such plea deal if the victim was a judge.
“What went down today would not have gone down if it was a Crown attorney that was shot, or a judge, or a police officer,” Randall Barrs told reporters.
But Superior Court Justice John McMahon, who sentenced Grayson Delong, 52, on Tuesday, said while Barrs may be unhappy with the result, he is satisfied the Crown “quite fairly and responsibly” accepted a guilty plea to aggravated assault, reduced from attempted murder after a preliminary hearing.
Summarizing the admitted facts, McMahon said Delong shot Barrs twice in the leg when he was in “very close proximity” to the lawyer.
At the time of the shooting, Barrs was placing items into the trunk of his car outside his law office on Bedford Rd. at 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2016.
“If the accused had the specific intent to kill the victim, he clearly would have targeted the victim’s torso or body mass or his head,” McMahon told court.
He called the shooting a “brutal targeted attack in broad daylight.”
After shooting Barrs, Delong was also shot that afternoon by Halton Regional Police officers who had tailed the petty criminal from the Brampton courthouse. Barrs said he plans to sue the force for gross negli- gence because the surveillance team failed to stop Delong, who was disguised as a construction worker and wearing a wig.
Halton police didn’t reply to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Barrs refused to submit a victimimpact statement and wasn’t in court for the sentencing. He said he didn’t want to be part of the process.
While there was evidence Delong’s gun also discharged twice from within the vehicle — he did not admit to firing the gun.
Barrs is unconvinced, sarcastically suggesting maybe “elves” pulled the trigger.
Barrs, 67, said he also feels let down by Toronto police, and said he still wants a “full and proper investigation of what was behind this thing.”
Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders said Tuesday he is open to speaking to Barrs, “but I certainly can’t guarantee a different outcome.”
“I will say being on the victim’s end of the judicial system can tend to be a not satisfying one,” Saunders said.
“I’ve heard that over and over again, walking through my homicide cases and other types of investigations, it has left a very bad taste in the victims’ mouths.”
With credit for time served, Delong was sentenced to a further nine years, seven months in a federal penitentiary.