Home invasion sends pair to penitentiary

Two young men from Watson Lake each received three-year jail sentences in territorial court Thursday, following their convictions of break and enter.

Two young men from Watson Lake each received three-year jail sentences in territorial court Thursday, following their convictions of break and enter.

Roger Brace, 25, and Tyler Stewart, 23, were found guilty in Watson Lake last Feb. 13, following a two-day trial.

Stewart also received a 30-day concurrent sentence for theft.

The incident occurred on Nov. 22, 2007, when Brace and Stewart entered a residence in Watson Lake and attached the occupants.

The two men kicked in the front door and proceeded to punch and kick one of the residents, who later required stitches to close his wounds, said Crown counsel Kevin Komosky. A second occupant fled the house.

The two men had left the premises by the time RCMP officers arrived, court heard. Officers noted that a lock at the residence was broken and there was fresh blood in the kitchen area.

Stewart stole a half-empty case of beer from the residence, for which he received the concurrent 30-day sentence.

Brace’s defence counsel, Jennie Cunningham, asked for a six- to nine-month jail sentence for her client, followed by a period of probation.

Brace has 18 prior convictions.

Stewart’s counsel, Elaine Cairns, also suggested a six- to nine-month sentence for her client.

She also asked that Stewart receive extra credit for the time he spent in pre-trial custody, due to the fact that he was kept in isolation and did not have access to any programming.

Stewart, who has 10 prior convictons, was kept in isolation so he and Brace would not have any contact while in custody, court heard.

Judge John Faulkner gave each man nine months’ credit for the six months the pair has spent in custody, leaving two years and three months to be served.

He rejected the premise that Stewart played a lesser role in the attack.

“It was clearly a joint enterprise,” he said.

Faulkner also noted that a lesser sentence, to be served in a territorial corrections institute instead of a federal pentitentiary, may not be to Stewart’s benefit because of the reduced access to programming.

Cairns said in her submission that the incident was not prolonged, was not perpetrated on frail or elderly victims, and that no weapons were involved.

Faulkner agreed that the victims in the case have taken a “robust” view of events and did not file a victim impact statement.

The victims and attackers were previously known to each other, Faulkner noted, indicating that the offence was likely a “settling of accounts.”

Faulkner imposed a DNA order and a 10-year firearms ban on the two offenders.