Variety store assailant jailed for 3 1/2 years for ‘stolen’ life
All it took was three punches to the face to steal the present from one man, and put in doubt the future of another. A moment of street violence last October took away the normal life of popular variety story owner Rajaie (Roger) El Shorafa, 56, and sent his assailant, Jesse Aaron McConnell, 23, to prison Tuesday. “You have in essence stolen his life,” Ontario Court of Justice Jeanine LeRoy told McConnell. “He can no longer do the things he did every day for more than two decades.”
But she held out hope for McConnell, already a veteran of hard times but willing to take responsibility for the assault.
“You can decide today to take advantage of the counselling programs available in the penitentiary or you can decide to take advantage of the education, in quotation marks, your fellow inmates will be more than happy to give you,” LeRoy said.
“Everyone in this court hopes you choose the former.” McConnell pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to 3½ years in prison, a period agreed upon by his lawyer and the Crown.
After taking into account time already served, he will spend another 29 1/2 months behind bars. The sentence may not seem long enough for the public, LeRoy acknowledged.
But given the range of sentences for similar crimes and his guilty plea, it is a fair one, she said. The popular El Shorafa, 56, was a fixture in London’s SoHo (south of Horton) neighbourhood, working seven days a week at his variety store at 216 Horton St. to support his wife and three children. He and his family had left the Palestinian part of Gaza and came via Kuwait to Canada in 1994. The evening of Oct. 21 2017, a group of people were standing outside his variety store door, blocking its entrance.
El Shorafa came outside to ask them to move along, according to an agreed statement of facts read in court.
A scuffle broke out and McConnell struck El Shorafa three times in the face. El Shorafa fell and his head hit the concrete, causing significant injuries.
El Shorafa stayed in hospital for several weeks, the first few in critical condition, before moving to Parkwood Institute to begin the long road of rehabilitation. The assault outraged the city, especially the SoHo community. A gofundme campaign started by Shelby’s Food Express raised more than $12,000 and a benefit concert at Call the Office raised another $7,500.
El Shorafa still cannot work and is afraid he will never be able to again, assistant Crown attorney Jason Miller told the court. Miller said he believed a written apology McConnell provided to the court to be genuine and rehabilitation possible, but warned the young man about continuing on the same path.
“I see somebody who makes repeated bad decisions for himself. This is what happens when you solve all your problems with violence and that is what street life teaches you,” Miller told McConnell.
“He is lucky Mr. El Shorafa survived that fall. This is his chance, if he pleases, to turn his life around.” It’s a life that hasn’t had many chances to turn around, according to the summary provided by McConnell’s lawyer, Ko Bhamra. McConnell was a ward of the state from the age of 12, exposed early in life to alcohol and substance abuse, and violence, she said.
He struggles with alcohol himself, but remains in communication with his parents and with the mother of his three-year-old daughter, Bhamra said. McConnell’s mother was in the courtroom to support her son. Before being led away, he nodded to his mother and made a signal that he would call.
The rest of the hearing, McConnell — his hair cut short, sporting a light beard and moustache and dressed neatly in a grey, longsleeved collared shirt — watched and listened attentively. LeRoy asked him if wanted to say anything, “No thank you ma’am,” he replied quietly.
El Shorafa’s family chose not to appear today, Miller told the court. Outside the courthouse, Miller told reporters the family understands the reasoning behind the sentence.
“Frankly I don’t think the family spends a lot of time worrying about the consequences to Mr. McConnell. They’re still worrying about the consequences to them,” Miller said. “I don’t know that you ever truly move on from something like this but that is the hope.” “Mr. El Shorafa was a fixture in that community for decades, well beloved, ran that store seven days a week, and so the consequences to him are significant,” Miller said.