‘Even a drug dealer has to be protected in society’

Does a drug dealer immersed in a dangerous subculture of violence deserve the same justice as an ‘innocent’ person?

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That’s what an Ontario court judge weighed during a sentencing hearing of one of several people caught up in a 2023 Valentine’s Day attack on a young drug dealer who was lured to a home in Brantford.

“This particular victim is not the same as a victim who lives in a residential area that’s picked out randomly for a home invasion,” said Justice Gethin Edward.

“How do I wrestle with that? Is it ‘All victims are worthy of equal protection’ or ‘If you get involved in the drug trade, you’ve got to realize you’re taking a chance at a robbery at some point’?”

According to details read into the court record during the sentencing of 24-year-old Jayden Phillips, Jenessa Lowe, 23, invited her ex-boyfriend to a Tenth Avenue home to “hang out” just after 5 am on Feb. 14, 2023 and, when he arrived, she asked him to come inside the house.

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The man declined and, eventually three more people came out – Phillips, Sheldon Mitchell-Clause and a second woman.

The victim was then pistol-whipped with what was described as a black Luger handgun, said assistant Crown attorney Anthony Minelli, and dragged into the home, all while yelling and begging to be let go.

Once inside, said Minelli, the man’s pants were ripped off, and his shoes, a gold chain and three rings stolen, along with a backpack that contained “a large amount of drugs”.

Phillips, Lowe, Mitchell-Clause and the other woman were all accused of punching and kicking at the man but there may have been up to 10 people involved in the skirmish.

“Phillips grabbed his hair and threatened him,” said Minelli, “saying ‘You know who we are. If you say anything, we’ll kill you.’”

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Mitchell-Clause recorded the threat on his cell phone.

The man was finally able to escape and, outside, stopped a vehicle and asked the driver to call police.

When officers arrived on Dorothy Street they found the battered, bleeding victim wearing a pair of boxer shorts, with a swollen face, a gouge over one eyebrow and a chipped tooth.

Four people were charged with various offenses, including forcible confinement and firearms crimes.

“It’s clear what happened here,” said Phillip’s defense lawyer, calling the attack “a reality in the drug business.”

“It was a drug deal that went sour,” said Shawn Swartz.

“A three-year sentence reflects that even a drug dealer has to be protected in society. If this had been an entirely innocent person, the Crown would have asked for seven or eight years.”

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When Phillips was arrested, police found he had a gold lion during chain that belonged to the victim although no gun was recovered.

Phillips was sentenced last October to 12 months of time served and another two years plus a day after he pleaded guilty to robbery.

“Is that your client’s preference, even his young age, to go to the federal penitentiary as opposed to a maximum reformatory,” asked the judge.

Swartz said Phillips felt the availability of counseling and programming in prison would be far better than what he had experienced in the provincial jail.

Lowe was sentenced last fall to 17 months in jail for robbery while all charges against the second woman were withdrawn earlier this year.

Mitchell-Clause pleaded guilty to assault and, this spring, was given a 12-month time served sentence. He continues in the court system facing drug charges laid last fall.

Edward expressed his concern at the amount of anger that would cause a group of young people to “beat the living daylights” out of “even a drug dealer”.

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