Violent criminal declared dangerous offender
Possessing a criminal history, including for violence, that has kept him in custody nearly his entire adult life, there was little question for Justice Jennifer Pritchard that Larry Robert Pelly be declared a dangerous offender.
But she stopped short of imposing the indeterminate sentence requested by the Crown, referring to the 35-year-old man’s traumatic childhood, the trouble-riddled history between courts and Indigenous people, and the possibility of Pelly’s making positive changes.
Pelly’s largely unabated criminal past consists of 52 previous convictions, including more than a dozen for violence or weapons-related offences.
The offence for which he was sentenced on Thursday — an aggravated assault from July 2015 against a 55-year-old man — resulted in gashes and lost teeth for the victim and a dangerous offender hearing for Pelly when the Crown decided enough was enough.
The hearing began in February and Pritchard returned Thursday with her findings.
Pelly clutched his head and fought back emotion throughout the judge’s decision, which left the man with 5½ years on top of remand time. That will be followed by 10 years on a long-term supervision order, which will allow for close monitoring of Pelly in the community.
“The evidence is unambiguously clear that Mr. Pelly will continue to be a threat to other persons unless he remains entirely free from all alcohol and drugs,” Pritchard said. “Since he was 10 or 11 years old, his life has been hijacked by these addictions. In my view, the sheer magnitude of all that Mr. Pelly must accomplish to effect meaningful and lasting change satisfies me beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a likelihood that he will continue to be a threat to the public in the future.”
Pritchard found the Crown had proven a pattern of repetitive violent behaviour on Pelly’s part and a failure to control it, as well as significant risk of future violence. While treatment options have been made available to him in the past, court heard Pelly has not taken adequate advantage of them.
But, the judge added, some of Pelly’s struggles with programming could come down to problems he has grasping it.
Coming from a background of poverty, neglect, abandonment, abuse, and mental health issues, Pelly quit school after Grade 4. Pritchard referred to a lengthy questionnaire Pelly was provided that was to help address the possibility of ADHD. Pelly said it was too difficult for him to complete.
“I’m asking for help and they won’t help me do it,” Pritchard quoted Pelly as saying.
Pritchard noted “the legacy of colonization, residential schools, and intergenerational trauma generally experienced by those of Aboriginal descent in Canada, and by Mr. Pelly personally, are relevant to the penalty stage of these proceedings.”
“Mr. Pelly has spent the majority of his life incarcerated where he has never been taught, in a manner that has been accessible to him, how to live co-operatively or to manage his anger or fears ...,” she said.
“Mr. Pelly has obviously made many bad choices, most signifi- cantly his failure to take treatment for his addictions. Mr. Pelly ’s choices have also been impacted by his personal circumstances and most likely by the well-documented systemic bias of the criminal justice system against Aboriginal people who have been raised in pathogenic circumstances.”
While she noted Pelly’s future treatment prospects “are not promising” and require a sustained commitment to change he has so far not achieved, she added she was not convinced an indefinite sentence was required to adequately protect society.
Pritchard went on to make several recommendations to Correctional Service Canada, including assessing and diagnosing Pelly for any personality disorders or learning disabilities; and that the CSC encourage and facilitate his registration for status under the Indian Act to help him access supports once in the community.