A violent repeat offender — who now claims to be a trans woman — has been declared a dangerous offender and is serving a 15-year prison sentence for all his crimes committed in the context of domestic violence.
Jody Matthew Burke, a former mixed martial arts fighter, listened to the reading of the judgment from the detention center where he is. As soon as the judge said, “He’s a dangerous offender,” Burke turned his back to the camera, ignoring him for the rest of his sentencing.
At the same time, in a courtroom at the Montreal courthouse, his victim, Brigitte Jobin, burst into tears.
Burke, 47, gave her hell during their relationship.
Friday morning, after six years of trial, the moment she was waiting for finally arrived.
By imposing this sentence which he knows is “severe” for Burke, described as “a manipulator” and a being incapable of deviating from his violent behavior towards his spouses, Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné of the Court of Quebec emphasized on the need “to protect society and especially women. »
“It was about time,” said Ms. Jobin outside the courtroom, pointing out that Burke had made at least two victims before her.
The sentence follows a conviction on eight counts including sexual assault with a weapon and death threats against his ex-wife.
Burke was due to receive his sentence on Wednesday but had attempted to self-harm his testicles in prison the day before, resulting in hospitalization which further delayed the court process. Having asked in the past to be incarcerated in a women’s prison, Burke argued that removing his testicles would lower his testosterone.
Burke presumably hoped to avoid the dangerous offender label by arguing that his risk of recidivism would be lower for women.
Judge Gagné had already written his judgment, however, and refused Thursday to reopen the evidence on the sentence.
The magistrate took from expert evidence on the risk of recidivism that Burke was in the highest category. He recalled that the last assaults on Ms. Jobin occurred while Burke was under supervision in a halfway house, serving a sentence for similar violent acts against a previous spouse.
As he has been incarcerated since his arrest, the 15-year sentence was reduced to 6.7 years.