Judge: Why not jail violent con man two years?
Man with long record broke into woman’s house and waited for her on porch with knife
KITCHENER — A judge on Monday said the sentence proposed for a Cambridge man with a long record who broke into a woman’s house — and waited for her on the porch with a knife — is far too low.
The Crown sought a jail sentence of eight months for Brian Bingley, 57, after he pleaded guilty to fraud, uttering threats and breaking into the house and stealing items. The defence asked for six months.
Last summer, Bingley approached several elderly women living alone promising to do work for money. The work was never done. Bingley has a long prior record for frauds and a home-invasion robbery.
The Crown said eight months is appropriate considering Bingley stayed out of trouble for several years and entered guilty pleas early, sparing victims from testifying.
Justice Craig Parry said he figured at least two years in prison would be appropriate. Judges rarely say sentences proposed by the Crown are too light.
Parry adjourned sentencing until May 3 to give the Crown and defence time to find reasons to convince him to not consider a sentence of at least two years.
In early September, Bingley approached a woman at her house in Cambridge and asked her if he wanted him to clean her eavestroughs. She didn’t agree.
A few days later, the woman came home at 9:30 p.m. to find Bingley sitting on her porch with a can of beer.
He said he cleaned the gutters and requested payment.
When she said they had no agreement, Bingley threatened to rip out her gutters and “fix her.”
After he fled on a bicycle, the woman noticed a knife Bingley took from her house was sitting beside the beer can.
She also discovered he had rummaged through her house, breaking dishes and throwing a kitchen mixer through a window.
Bingley previously convinced a Kitchener woman to give him $165 for driveway work, which he never did. He also approached several other elderly women to clean their gutters.
Bingley was arrested in Toronto last month when police responded to a report of a prowler. He admitted to the crimes in Kitchener and said he was high on crack cocaine at the time.
His criminal record dates back to 1982, and he has 18 prior fraud convictions. In 2011, he was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant for getting money from elderly women in Niagara Falls on the guise of doing odd jobs. He was jailed 30 months for a 2009 homeinvasion robbery in Toronto.