The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) filed an appeal on Thursday against a Gatineau man who received a conditional discharge after beating and strangling his ex-spouse.
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“The Honorable Judge made significant errors of principle which impacted the sentence. “, writes Me Isabelle Michaud, prosecutor at the DPCP.
On July 27, Judge Serge Laurin granted a conditional discharge to Joshua Schoo. The man also has the obligation to pay $5,000 to a community organization and to carry out 250 hours of community work.
Note that the 48-year-old Gatineau resident was found guilty of having assaulted his ex-wife after an argument, in March 2021. Schoo had however been accused of assault causing injury and of having strangled his victim, in addition to the to have threatened.
“Major errors” of the judge
The Crown attorney who filed the appeal revealed several faults committed in Judge Serge Laurin’s judgment.
Among these: “to conclude that the accused was not involved in a “pattern” of domestic violence even if there were two separate sequences of violence during the event” in March 2021.
The DPCP also deplores that the judge took into account that a criminal record “would cause the accused to lose his job” and would cause a “financial impact” on his family.
“The honorable judge erred in law, because a conditional discharge is a sentence that is manifestly unreasonable and inappropriate,” said Me Goulet in the appeal request.
She also believes that Judge Laurin’s sentence does not respect the principles of denunciation and deterrence in a marital context and that he did not sufficiently take into account the impact on the victim and the children who witnessed the violent aggression.
Recall that the Crown first requested last July that Joshua Schoo be imprisoned for six months because of this episode of domestic violence, which was refused by Judge Laurin for the reasons mentioned above.
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