Manslaughter
R. v. Cook
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Jacob Cook pleaded guilty to manslaughter for stabbing his older brother to death in the family home in Langley. The Crown and defence jointly recommended ten years in jail less credit for pre-sentence custody. Justice Riley accepted the joint recommendation and imposed ten years, finding the brutal violence required denunciation and deterrence despite Mr. Cook's youth, lack of a record, mental health and remorse.
In the judge's words
1[40] I certainly agree with defence counsel that a ten-year jail sentence is a very long jail sentence, particularly for a youthful first offender. But as everyone here can appreciate, the crime was so serious, and the consequences so significant, that a hefty jail sentence is required, to meet the objectives of denunciation and deterrence, and to give the community a sense that there is a weighty consequence associated with the taking of another person's life through violence, even where the crime is manslaughter as opposed to murder.
The record
- Convicted of
- Manslaughter (CC 236)
- Prior convictions
- 0 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Defence asked for
- 10 years in custody1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: J.B. Deschamps, S. Currie-Roberts
Defence: B. Coleman, K.C., R. Young
Sources
- R. v. Cook, 2023 BCSC 2143 Court decision, CanLII, November 24, 2023
[2] The Crown and the defence are proposing a joint recommendation for the Mr. Cook to receive a sentence of ten years in jail, less credit for the time he has already spent in custody.
[2] The Crown and the defence are proposing a joint recommendation for the Mr. Cook to receive a sentence of ten years in jail, less credit for the time he has already spent in custody.
[1] These are reasons for sentence following the offender Jacob Cook's plea of guilty to manslaughter.
[13] Jacob Cook is now 23 years old. He was only 20 at the time of the offence. He has no prior criminal record and evidently no prior involvement whatsoever with the criminal justice system.
[40] I certainly agree with defence counsel that a ten-year jail sentence is a very long jail sentence, particularly for a youthful first offender. But as everyone here can appreciate, the crime was so serious, and the consequences so significant, that a hefty jail sentence is required, to meet the objectives of denunciation and deterrence, and to give the community a sense that there is a weighty consequence associated with the taking of another person's life through violence, even where the crime is manslaughter as opposed to murder.
[41] So, Mr. Cook, would you stand please. I sentence you to 10 years in jail, less credit for time spent in custody. Now, I am going to have a discussion with counsel about exactly how that sentence is expressed in terms of the net sentence, but by my math, the time spent in custody is two years, six months, which at a credit of 1.5 to 1 leads to credit of three years, nine months. So, after giving credit for that amount, the net resulting sentence is six years, three months. That is the sentence I impose.
- Criminal Code, s. 236 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. Cook, 2023 BCSC 2143 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia