Arson causing damage to property
R. v. Sorenson
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Steven Sean Sorenson was found guilty by a jury of two counts of arson and pleaded guilty to a third, for setting fires at two restaurants in Burnaby in 2020, one of them twice. The Crown sought two years per count, consecutive, reduced to five years for totality, followed by three years of probation. Justice Fitzpatrick imposed that sentence, less 1,262 days of credit for pre-trial custody, finding each fire a separate deliberate act and rejecting a further reduction for isolation in custody.
In the judge's words
1I agree with the Crown that a fit sentence for all three offences is two years for each count, to be served consecutively, in accordance with s. 718.3(4)(b)(i) of the Criminal Code. Each of the fires represented a separate act of the deliberate setting of a fire.
The record
- Convicted of
- Arson causing damage to property (CC 434, 3 counts)
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: P. Sebellin
Sources
- R. v. Sorenson, 2023 BCSC 787 Court decision, CanLII, April 21, 2023
[22] Crown counsel submits that the appropriate and fit sentence is two years jail time for each of the three counts, or six years, to be reduced to five years based on the totality principle.
[1] Steven Sean Sorenson has been found guilty of three counts of arson.
[83] I agree with the Crown that a fit sentence for all three offences is two years for each count, to be served consecutively, in accordance with s. 718.3(4)(b)(i) of the Criminal Code. Each of the fires represented a separate act of the deliberate setting of a fire.
[92] Mr. Sorenson, please stand. I sentence you to a total jail term of two years for each count, for a total of six years, which is to reduced by one year on the totality principle. You will be given credit for 1,262 days (or three years, 167 days) in pre‑trial custody, such that the remaining jail term will be one year and 199 days. … [93] In addition, at the end of your incarceration, you must comply with a probation order for a term of three years, subject to the following conditions:
- Criminal Code, s. 434 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. Sorenson, 2023 BCSC 787 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia