Mosque killer’s sentence cut

Montreal – A man who shot dead six worshippers at a Quebec mosque in 2017 had his sentence reduced to 25 years in prison on Thursday when a Canadian court ruled it was unconstitutional for him to serve consecutive life sentences.

Alexandre Bissonnette, who turns 31 next week, was sentenced in 2019 to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 40 years.

In a unanimous decision, the Quebec Court of Appeal said a provision of the Criminal Code introduced in 2011 that allows judges to impose consecutive life sentences for multiple murders violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The three-judge panel said it “makes it possible to impose a penalty which will at all times be cruel and unusual and grossly disproportionate.”

The prosecution had asked for a 150-year sentence, which would have been the longest yet in Canada, while the defence petitioned for 25 years.

Bissonnette was 27 at the time of his arrest.

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