The presiding judge is not holding out any hope for a young man unwilling to abide by court orders.
Judge Karl Bazin grudgingly sided with the defence when he decided not to send Dominic Threinen to jail, following a series of breaches. Threinen had originally been sentenced for a break and enter and proceeded to dismiss most of the conditions placed on him as a result of that sentence. Of the 80 hours of community service he was supposed to complete, none were finished.
In Estevan provincial court on Monday, Bazin gave his decision to let Threinen, now 20, serve another sentence in the community.
The Crown was requesting that Threinen serve two months in jail for the breaches. The pre-sentence report outlined that Threinen does not, and will not, follow any of the conditions imposed upon him. Other conditions included curfews and to abstain from alcohol.
Threinen's Legal Aid lawyer argued that sending him to jail for breaches without a new substantive offence would be grossly disproportionate.
"I had to think about this one for awhile," said Bazin in his decision.
He noted there is a sentencing principle of restraint, meaning the court must restrain itself when sentencing.
"My first reaction was just to put you in jail. That's the easy route for everybody," said Bazin. "You may end up going there anyway. From your past and what you've done, I don't hold out any hope that you're going to follow any of your conditions, so you may be back here shortly."
Bazin suspended sentence for 12 months, adding a lot more community service and stiffening up Threinen's conditions.
For the first three months, Threinen will be under a 24-hour curfew, and must complete 160 community service hours. Instead of requiring those hours to be completed in the 12-month period, Bazin has put Threinen on a schedule where he must complete 15 hours by June 15 and another 15 hours by June 30. He will then have to complete 30 hours by the end of each month.
Bazin said the dates are tight, but said he will know if Threinen is going to be back in court on a breach if he fails to complete the hours by the deadlines. Because Threinen is still under a previous order, which doesn't expire until November, he will also have to complete the original 80 hours from his previous order by that time.
Once the 160 hours are completed, Threinen's curfew will lift from house arrest to a more relaxed 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew, and he will be under electronic monitoring.
The community service can be converted to a fine, if Threinen so chooses, where he can pay $10 for every hour he has not completed.
Bazin told Threinen that he was getting a break.
"The court has had you for a lot of time. There's a lot of resources, everybody's trying to help you but you don't help yourself," Bazin said.
Bazin did warn Threinen that he is part of a "ladder approach," and he is one step up the ladder.
