Judge orders risk assessment for Marriott
A Halifax judge has ordered a dangerous-offender assessment for Brian James (B.J.) Marriott, who’s awaiting sentencing for his involvement in a brutal attack on an inmate at the Dartmouth jail by a group of men.
The notorious Halifax gangster pleaded guilty in Nova Scotia Supreme Court this February to a charge of aggravated assault in connection with the December 2019 beating and stabbing of Stephen Anderson.
Prosecutors then gave notice of their intention to seek to have Marriott, 39, declared a dangerous offender at sentencing.
The first step in that process is preparation of a risk assessment to see if Marriott meets the criteria for designation as either a dangerous offender or a long-term offender.
Justice Jamie Campbell heard the Crown’s application for the assessment April 26 and gave his decision Wednesday.
“Mr. Marriott has a criminal record for violence that reaches back at least 20 years,” Campbell said. “He was convicted of manslaughter, and while in prison, he’s had three convictions for assault, whether involving a weapon or aggravated assault.”
The judge said Marriott has had other convictions while incarcerated, which could be argued to be evidence of his unwillingness or inability to comply with legal constraints.
“A reasonable belief is one that is based on facts and evidence,” Campbell said.
“The facts contained in Mr. Marriott’s criminal record, along with the evidence to indicate that he has not taken any programming over the period of his lengthy incarceration, permit the belief based on reasonable grounds that he might be found to be a dangerous or long-term offender. Consequently, the assessment will be ordered.”
The risk assessment will be conducted by Dr. Grainne Neilson, a psychiatrist at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth. She has 60 days to complete the assessment, but Crown attorney Rick Woodburn said she expects to have it finished sooner.
The doctor’s findings will determine whether the Crown applies to have Marriott declared a dangerous offender and locked up indefinitely. Prosecutors hope to be able to have that decision made by June 30, when the case is back in court.
In the event the dangerousoffender application does go ahead, the judge tentatively booked 10 days next January for a hearing.
Defence lawyer Nathan Gorham said he is “vigorously” opposing the attempt to have his client declared a dangerous offender, even at this early stage in the process.
At the outset of his submissions, Woodburn said the threshold for ordering a dangerous-offender assessment is low. He said the judge needed only to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe Marriott might be found to be a dangerous offender.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Marriott has been in conflict with the law since the age of 13 and has 21 adult convictions going back to November 2001.
He received his first federal sentence in June 2002, when he got two years for possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and another six months for possession of property obtained by crime.
“He’s not really been out of prison much since then,” the judge noted in his decision.
“That would be Mr. Marriott’s third conviction for possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, and he hadn’t yet turned 20.”
In November 2003, Marriott received 5.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in relation to a fatal shooting by an associate at a Halifax bar in March 2002.
While incarcerated, Marriott racked up five more convictions, including two for assault with a weapon and one each for assault causing bodily harm, conspiracy to traffic drugs in a correctional institution and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
Those convictions extended his prison sentence to 16 years and four months. He served every day of the sentence and was released from the Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., in October 2018.
In November 2019, Marriott was sentenced by a Halifax provincial court judge after pleading guilty to breaching a recognizance out of Montreal and a peace bond out of Miramichi, N.B. The judge imposed a nine-month sentence but deducted 136 days for remand credit.
On Dec. 2, 2019, Marriott was involved in the planned assault at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. Some men went into Anderson’s cell to carry out the attack while others, including Marriott, prevented correctional officers from intervening.
A 2015 psychological assessment prepared for the Correctional Service of Canada said Marriott posed a high risk to reoffend violently upon his release from prison. “He resorts to violence and intimidation to accomplish his goals, either within the institution or in the community,” the report said. “His assaults appear to be deliberate, well conceived and co-ordinated.”
The report said Marriott continued to lead the Spryfield MOB (Money Over Bitches) street gang while behind bars.
“It is vitally important that any decisions made about Mr. Marriott be made based on accurate information about him and not any perceived notions about his status as a member of a so-called crime family or his membership in a street gang,” Campbell cautioned Wednesday.
“Mr. Marriott’s record is lengthy, but the length of a person’s criminal record is not determinative of the issues on an application of this kind. What is significant is the nature of the record involving violent offences and the fact that while incarcerated within a highly structured environment, Mr. Marriott continued to be involved in criminal activity.
“It does allow for an inference to be made ... that Mr. Marriott is not someone who is deterred by the threat of longer periods of incarceration.”