Longer sentence means possible deportation

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This article was published 21/11/2018 (2542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A ruling by a judge who acknowledged mitigating a sentence so a convicted refugee wouldn’t be subject to deportation has been overturned.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal rejected the Oct. 31 sentencing of Mustaf Ahmed Yare, 23, who pleaded guilty to charges of ramming a police cruiser, fleeing from officers and crashing into a signpost in 2017.

Yare was at the wheel of a vehicle that rammed a cruiser when police tried to pull his vehicle over to conduct a traffic stop. He then drove off at high speed.

Yare also threatened to kill police while he was being taken into custody. “I’m going to get my gang and I’m going to find you and kill you,” he told officers.

After a few nights in custody, he was released on bail, with conditions including a curfew he breached two weeks later.

On the date of sentencing, Yare had spent 179 days in custody.

Yare, 23, was born in Ethiopia and raised in a refugee camp in Somalia. He came to Canada in 2009 with his family. He has a Grade 11 education, and lives with his parents.

The Crown appealed the extent to which a judge can craft a sentence in order to avoid collateral immigration consequences. The sentencing judge said the accused “ought to be jailed for about a year for these charges.”

However, the judge took into consideration that Yare is subject to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and could face deportation if sentenced at least six months in connection with a crime. The judge imposed a sentence of five months, 25 days remaining to be served.

However, the Appeal Court said a sentence must be proportionate “to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender.”

“In our view, the sentencing judge imposed an artificial sentence in order to circumvent Parliament’s will and, in doing so, he erred in principle by overemphasizing the collateral consequences.”

The Appeal Court also listed “aggravating factors” such as the accused’s lengthy and related criminal record, and the fact he was on probation at the time of the offences.

The Appeal Court imposed a sentence of incarceration totalling 13 months plus 10 days, including 10 months for fleeing police by motor vehicle.