Judge sends message by revoking man’s bail
Citing seriousness of offence, he sends student to jail before sentencing in sex assault case
It was quite a sight: York University doctoral student Mustafa Ururyar being led out of the Old City Hall courtroom in handcuffs Monday, after Ontario Court Justice Marvin Zuker revoked his bail.
Zuker convicted Ururyar on Thursday of sexually assaulting fellow York PhD student Mandi Gray.
So we knew Ururyar had a chance of serving up to 18 months in jail. But it wasn’t likely that would happen before his sentencing, first scheduled in October. (It was changed to Sept. 14 on Monday.)
That’s usually how things work. Two examples: Marco Muzzo, who pleaded guilty to killing four people with his car while he was drunk and injuring two others, was let out on an expensive bail for three weeks before being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
And Dr. George Doodnaught, the North York anesthesiologist who was convicted of sexually assaulting 21 women, most of them patients who he put to sleep on a hospital surgery table, was given bail for three months before being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
But Zuker showed he is willing to break new ground again Monday. With the same outraged tenor in which he delivered his scathing verdict Thursday, he declared that revoking Ururyar’s bail and sending him to jail set an important message to society and to other rape victims.
“What is the significance of a rape if a person doesn’t go to jail?” Zuker asked Ururyar’s defence counsel, Lisa Bristow.
The case has garnered much attention, mostly because Gray repealed the publication ban on her name and spoke publicly about the injustice in the criminal justice system she perceived for women, like her, who are raped by people they know. Her case, like most, turned on consent.
Gray and Ururyar had been hooking up for two weeks before the early morning of Jan. 31, 2015, when they met friends at a bar, stayed until closing time and then walked back to his place. On the way, he berated her, calling her “needy” and “a slut,” she testified. Once there, he forced his penis in her mouth and raped her.
Again on Monday, Zuker said it’s time society takes seriously sexual assaults that happen in private.
“I think it’s about the victim. I think it’s about the administration of justice,” he said. “My issue quite frankly is the seriousness of the offence that people don’t take seriously enough and arguably . . . it makes a mockery of what this man has been convicted of.”
Ururyar’s mother, Masooda Ururyar, and his partner, librarian Alison Moore, both appeared in court to stand as joint sureties.
Masooda Ururyar said she was willing to put her two Vancouver condominiums towards securing her eldest son’s bail. The Afghan Canadian told the court she had come to Canada 27 years ago, after fleeing the war, and raised Ururyar and his younger brother alone, as a single mother. She planned to give Ururyar a job in her North Vancouver hair salon as a receptionist until his sentencing.
“He’s always been a good son, he’s always on time for school . . . people only say good things about him,” she said.
Moore, Ururyar’s partner of many years, testified that they had rented a two-bedroom apartment near his mother’s work, where they planned to live together — and “get more time with him” — until October.
Ururyar has no previous criminal record, his lawyer pointed out, and he arrived every day to court, despite having to fly in from Vancouver
Wrenching his judge’s collar, Zuker clearly found infuriating the notion that Ururyar would continue his life as before.
“If we gave him the same kind of courtesy that he gave Mandi Gray, we wouldn’t be here today. We are accommodating him. Did he accommodate Ms. Gray? I don’t think so,” he said.
“It’s life as usual for Mr. Ururyar. Again we forget about the complainant. We forget about victims. Do you think it’s life as usual for Ms Gray?”
Sexual assault might not leave a physical injury, but the psychological injuries are long-lasting, Zuker reminded the court.
“The impact of January 31, 2015 . . . will affect Ms. Gray for the rest of her life.”
It wouldn’t matter to him, he said, if Ururyar had six sureties.
Although Zuker said he was not familiar with convicted rapists not getting jail time, Bristow offered one example: a TTC employee she represented, who was convicted of sexually assaulting his ex-wife about six months ago, was given a conditional sentence. After Ururyar was taken out by a police officer, she told reporters she planned to file an appeal of the conviction that day.
“All I know is this man raped Mandi Gray on Jan. 31, 2015. That’s what I found. Period. If another court says I am wrong, then let them say I am wrong,” Zuker said.
Contacted at home later in the day, Gray said she had mixed emotions. She never wanted Ururyar to go to jail. She just wanted to attend classes at York without having to see him.
Now, hearing he is appealing the case, she is dreading many more months in the court system.
“It’s not a joyous day for me,” she said. “At the same time, for him to appeal the verdict, it just demonstrates his lack of remorse and how deeply ingrained his misogynist values are . . . I just want to be done with it and move forward.”
Crown attorney Jennifer Lofft said she will ask for a medium to maximum penalty of 12 to 18 months in jail. Catherine Porter can be reached at cporter@thestar.ca.