SUMMERSIDE – The leader of an attack on an Albany home last fall has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail.
Dustin Justin Leo Noonan, 20, of Borden-Carleton was sentenced on Friday.
Noonan had previously pleaded guilty to breaking and entering into a home to commit a robbery and wearing a mask while committing a crime.
He was also given credit for the one and a half months he’s already spent in custody.
Noonan was visibly upset during the sentencing and whispered “I love you,” to his supporters before being led away by the sheriffs.
Judge John Douglas commented that Noonan appears to have a strong possibility of rehabilitation.
But Douglas made no qualms in his sentencing of Noonan, telling him if it wasn’t for his own efforts to cooperate with the courts, and turn his life around, that he would have been handed a more severe sentence.
Noonan is one of four Prince County men who where charged in connection with an incident on Aug. 17, 2012.
The others are due back in court on Feb. 10, to elect mode of trial on charges of armed robbery with violence, wearing a mask in commission of an offence and breaking and entering into a home and committing robbery.
According to the statement of facts read in court, Noonan suspected the victim had a large quantity of cash and drugs at the home, and that he and the victim had a previous feud.
He enlisted nine people to participate directly and indirectly in the robbery.
He arranged for transportation and a driver, masks and weapons. He also arranged to forgive a debt, between $50 and $100, with one man in exchange for being provided information about who was in the home on the night before the attack.
On the morning of the home invasion, Noonan and six others, all masked, and some carrying weapons, entered the home.
One of the occupants was assaulted with a hand-held Taser, then beaten.
He later required hospitalization for a broken nose, abrasions and bruising to his face.
Some of the group of attackers made their way upstairs and tried to get into a bedroom, with one male and one female inside.
The male occupant of the room managed to fight off the attackers with a small aluminum bat.
This counter-attack forced the group to flee the home.
On his way out of the home Noonan grabbed a wallet containing a large amount of money and an iPhone belonging to one of the victims.
He was arrested three months later, following a lengthy RCMP investigation.
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