Court calls sentence for death of Earl Clapp appropriate
Man appealed length of time he was given for manslaughter
In dismissing an appeal by a man convicted of manslaughter in the dragging death of a 74-year-old Pelham resident, Ontario’s top court said the offender received a fit and sentence for what it described as a “horrific” crime.
Jason Lusted was sentenced to 18 years behind bars in September 2022 in connection with the death of Earl Clapp.
The 52-year-old had appealed the length of his sentence to the Court of Appeal for Ontario and asked the sentence be reduced to 11 years due to errors made by the judge who presided over his guilty plea.
Lusted’s lawyer argued at the appeal the judge failed to treat the guilty plea and his client’s expression of remorse as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
In a written decision released last week, the three-judge panel said the presiding judge factored in the mitigating value of the plea and apology when arriving at a sentence.
“Considered in context, we are satisfied that the sentencing judge took into consideration the mitigating value of the appellant’s guilty plea in fashioning a fit sentence,” the decision reads.
The Appeal Court described the circumstances of the offence as “horrific.”
“In light of the gravity of the offence and the circumstances of the offender, the sentence imposed was fit and appellate intervention is not warranted,” its decision said.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 2, 2020, court heard previously, Lusted and Matthew MacInnes were on the prowl, searching for a trailer to steal, when they spotted several trailers behind a locked gate at the end of Clapp’s driveway.
Lusted cut the lock, and started using a grinder on a wheel block on one of the trailers.
Police believe the noise of the power tool likely woke Clapp, who went outside to investigate.
MacInnes warned Lusted that someone was walking toward them, and the offender got back into the SUV and accelerated down the driveway.
Lusted made a deliberate right turn in the homeowner’s direction.
The vehicle struck Clapp, trapping him under the vehicle.
His body was discovered by a passing motorist on Highway 20, almost two kilometres from his home.
The appeal court noted the offender has an extensive criminal record. At the time of his guilty plea, Lusted had amassed 59 criminal convictions, including a charge of accessory after the fact to murder.
His multiple driving-related infractions included five convictions for dangerous driving, six convictions for driving while disqualified and three convictions for flight from police.