Assaulting a peace officer with a weapon or causing bodily harm, Assaulting a peace officer
R. v. B.E.D.
A publication ban applies. The offender is not named.
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
The offender pleaded guilty to assaulting a correctional officer and to assault causing bodily harm to a second correctional officer, both while he was held in a provincial correctional centre. The Crown sought six months and a consecutive 24 months; the defence sought 12 months in total. Justice Ker imposed a global sentence of 20 months, fully satisfied by pre-sentence custody credit, followed by 18 months of probation, finding that the second assault followed a dispute over flashlight checks that gave it significant context but did not justify it.
In the judge's words
1[73] While the Crown contends there was an element of planning to this offence, I am not prepared to conclude that the desire to stop a perceived harassment amounts to planning insofar as this offender is concerned. … To be sure, … engages in victim blaming and has little insight into his behaviours in offending, but that I find is in part due to his complicated psychological profile informed as it is by the trauma he suffered as a child.
The record
Sources
- R. v. B.E.D., 2023 BCSC 2409 Court decision, CanLII, November 7, 2023
[66] Defence counsel acknowledges the range provided in the authorities and contends that a fit sentence for these two offences is 12 months' imprisonment
[48] … has a significant criminal record with 26 convictions starting in 2000 from Calgary with a theft-under and forcible entry. He has four convictions for assaults simpliciter from 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2018; and two convictions for assaulting a peace officer in 2016 and 2021.
[73] While the Crown contends there was an element of planning to this offence, I am not prepared to conclude that the desire to stop a perceived harassment amounts to planning insofar as this offender is concerned. … To be sure, … engages in victim blaming and has little insight into his behaviours in offending, but that I find is in part due to his complicated psychological profile informed as it is by the trauma he suffered as a child.
[79] The sentences are to be served consecutively, therefore making a global sentence of 20 months' imprisonment, which is 600 days in length. … [82] Applying the enhanced rate of 1:1.5 to those 400 days results in 600 days. … [83] The net effect is that I impose a sentence of one day and time served, followed by an 18 month period of probation.
- Criminal Code, s. 270.01 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. B.E.D., 2023 BCSC 2409 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia