Break and enter a dwelling-house, Aggravated assault
R. v. Suel
- Below the Crown's ask
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Daniel Mark Suel pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and break and enter with intent after he and a co-accused attacked a 76-year-old man in his RV in Chilliwack. The Crown sought four years less time served; the defence sought a conditional sentence. Justice Walkem imposed 30 months in custody with credit for time served, finding that the Crown's proposal did not address his Gladue factors and noting his steps toward rehabilitation.
In the judge's words
1The evidence before me was that Mr. Suel had taken considerable steps to rehabilitate himself. And though I agree a custodial sentence of some form is appropriate, I find that imposing the term of imprisonment of four years proposed by the Crown would not be just in the circumstances.
The record
- Convicted of
- Break and enter a dwelling-house (CC 348(1)(d))
- Aggravated assault (CC 268)
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: M.L. Wray
Defence: J.D.A. Watt
Sources
- R. v. Suel, 2023 BCSC 2288 Court decision, CanLII, December 14, 2023
[22] The Crown proposes a sentence of four years less time served.
[1] THE COURT: On December 1st, 2019, the accused, Daniel Suel, and co-accused, Marco Verhage, assaulted the victim, … who was 76 years old at the time.
The evidence before me was that Mr. Suel had taken considerable steps to rehabilitate himself. And though I agree a custodial sentence of some form is appropriate, I find that imposing the term of imprisonment of four years proposed by the Crown would not be just in the circumstances.
[69] In my view, a custodial sentence of 30 months with credit for time served is appropriate to be assessed between the two charges as follows. For the charge of 348(1)(a), I sentence Mr. Suel to six months of incarceration with credit for time served. On the count of aggravated assault, contrary to s. 268(2) of the Criminal Code, I sentence Mr. Suel to 24 months with any additional credit for time served to be deducted from that amount. … [19] Mr. Suel was arrested and detained on December 15, 2019, and remained in custody until May 5th, 2020, following a s. 525 application. In total, he served 140 days, or 200 days with credit, for a total of approximately seven months.
- Criminal Code, s. 268 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. Suel, 2023 BCSC 2288 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia