A career criminal with 80 convictions on his record was advised to get out of the business as he recently was sent to the penitentiary by a Brantford judge.
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“You need to seriously consider retiring,” Justice Colette Good told Christopher D. Guitar, as she looked over his criminal record.
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“You’re not amenable to court orders and have breached them 30 times and you have numerous convictions for offenses that endanger public safety. You have five convictions for offenses of violence, not including this robbery and, what I notice is the nature of the crimes you’re committing is escalating.”
Last December, Guitar pulled a knife on a taxi driver and robbed him of a small amount of money.
In court, he pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a weapon.
His lawyer said Guitar’s act was one of desperation aimed at getting him back behind bars and on his medication so he could get help.
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But the judge said that would mean little to the cabbie and others who perform such services in the community.
“(The driver) was a vulnerable target, as are other cab drivers, and the court is going to sentence individuals who commit such acts to lengthy jail sentences or penitentiary sentences because of the harm caused to these victims.”
But, while the Crown lawyers in the case had been proposing a sentence of three years, defense lawyer Dale Henderson said that wasn’t enough time.
Because Guitar had amassed 281 days in custody, which is automatically counted at 421 days, a three-year sentence wouldn’t rise to the two-year bar that is set for prison time.
“He wants to go to the pen and that’s reasonable,” said Henderson.
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“He was there before and there’s a six-month program he wants to take.”
Henderson added that Guitar had an outstanding arrest warrant for a crime in St. Catharines but despite “numerous” efforts by himself and his staff, no one at the Maplehurst jail would execute the warrant so Guitar will still have to deal with that case separately.
“We’re asking for time served over two years so he can go to the pen.”
The judge agreed, saying Guitar was becoming more of a concern.
“You’re someone who is a danger to the public and you’re going to be sentenced that way. Your behavior is getting worse and is dangerous to the people of this community.”
Good placed an order on Guitar about not possessing weapons and ordered him to stay away from the taxi driver he robbed.
@EXPSGamble
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