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High risk offender breaches court order

A 24-year-old Yorkton man is going to prison for 15 months after breaching a recognizance that designated him a high risk to commit personal injury offences.


A 24-year-old Yorkton man is going to prison for 15 months after breaching a recognizance that designated him a high risk to commit personal injury offences.

On November 22, 2012, Rory Everett Ironstone consented to the recognizance under section 810.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Section 810 provides for intensive supervision and strict adherence to a set of conditions, which, if broken can carry a sentence of up to two years. In Ironstone's case, a long history of serious alcohol-related offences, including sexual assault, convinced Judge Ross Green the recognizance was appropriate.

Within two days, Ironstone had already breached the conditions by not reporting to probation services, but the judge gave him a break provided the young man get serious about the program, which included abstention from alcohol and participation in mental health treatment.

By November 30, however, the lure of alcohol proved too much for Ironstone. Police, attending to a disturbance at a Yorkton residence, found a severely intoxicated Ironstone, who immediately put his hands behind his back to be cuffed.

Officers also discovered Ironstone had stolen three sets of tires from a local business where he had been working leading to two additional charges for theft and failing to comply with a probation order to keep the peace.

In a joint submission by the prosecution and defence, Darryl Bode, acting for the Crown, requested a one-year prison term for the 810.2 breach and a consecutive three months for the theft.

Bode cited case law from Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan Courts of Appeal that upheld the principle "that in sentencing the offender for a breach of a s. 810.2 recognizance general and specific deterrence and the need to protect the public from high-risk offenders were paramount."

Judge Green agreed, but took no pleasure in passing the recommended sentence. Referring to the report that led to the recognizance in the first place, he said, "This struck me as one of the saddest I've read in some time."

Defence attorney Richard Yahlonitsky petitioned the judge to include an endorsement on the sentence that would potentially allow Ironstand to serve his time in Saskatoon Correctional Centre where he had previously been receiving help to beat his addiction and treatment for mental health issues.

The judge so ordered.

In his own defence, Ironstand was polite, respectful and articulate.

"I understand the severity of my addictions and the actions I take under the influence," he said.

He promised the court that he is serious about addressing his problems.

"I am taking responsibility for what I've done," he said. "I respect the law. I respect the courts. I want to be a productive member of society."

When Ironstone is released back into the community, he will serve the remaining 10-and-a-half months of his 810.2 recognizance.