A Lennox Island man who repeatedly kicked his victim in the face while he was on the ground will be spending more time in jail after the P.E.I. Court of Appeal overturned his nine-month sentence.
In January, John Douglas, who has since retired as a provincial court judge, sentenced Jason Aaron Sark, 40, to nine months in jail on one count of robbery.
Sark completed that sentence but will have to serve more time after the court of appeal recently increased it to two years in custody followed by two years of probation.
Writing for the court of appeal, Justice Michele Murphy said Douglas erred by focusing on Sark’s Aboriginal background and not all of the other principles of sentencing.
“In placing his focus on that factor, the sentencing judge did not give due consideration to the violent nature of the offence and Sark’s long criminal record for violent offences.”
Sark and his co-accused Jesse Douglas Paquet were with the victim in a parkade in Charlottetown when they robbed him of his wallet and cellphone on Aug. 31, 2019.
A surveillance video showed Paquet hit the victim in the side of the head which knocked him to the ground.
Sark kicked the victim in the face four times before punching him.
The attack left the victim with a split lip that needed stitches and a loose tooth that required more than $1,300 in dental work after the assault.
Douglas sentenced Paquet, whose criminal record included three assault charges, to one year in jail.
Sark has a prior criminal record with more than 50 convictions, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
It also includes multiple counts of assault, assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats to cause death.
What is a Gladue report?
A Gladue report is a specialized type of pre-sentence report named after a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision that found judges must take an Aboriginal person’s background and personal history into consideration during sentencing. Some employees with the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. and several members of the Native Council of P.E.I. are trained to complete the reports.
A Gladue report, which is a specialized type of pre-sentence report for Aboriginal offenders, was prepared for the case and detailed Sark’s history.
It included systemic factors he experienced such as family violence, racism, mental health issues and addiction.
In the appeal decision, Murphy wrote there are unique systemic and background factors that played a part in bringing Sark before the courts.
“These factors bear on Sark’s culpability for the offence of robbery for which he is now being sentenced.”
Murphy wrote that an appropriate sentence would consist of a period of imprisonment to satisfy the principle of denunciation and deterrence, followed by probation to recognize Sark’s unique circumstances as an Aboriginal offender.
She also included several recommendations from the Gladue report in the probation order, including that Sark work with an Indigenous case worker, he meets with an elder to connect with his culture and he participate in an off-Island healing lodge to address his addictions.