A tragic upbringing doesn’t excuse violent behavior, an Ontario Court judge warned a Brantford man recently.
Justice Colette Good expressed sympathy for the “extremely difficult upbringing” Shawn Joseph Farmer, 28, had as a child, which included abuse and extremely early use of drugs, but said he must take responsibility for accepting help for his ongoing addictions.
“If you don’t take steps .. something may happen where you kill someone some day. That’s where this is headed if you don’t stop this conduct.”
Farmer pleaded guilty in court to stealing a mountain bike from a locked vehicle in an underground parking lot in April 2020; robbing and pistol-whipping a restaurant clerk in January 2021 and, while in jail awaiting trial, viciously assaulting a fellow inmate.
Farmer said he wished he could apologize to the restaurant clerk.
“I wish I could tell him ‘Sorry’ face-to-face and let him know I’m really not that guy. If you get to know me, I’m a pretty good guy and respect people and try to help out when I can.”
Farmer said he wasn’t trying to place the blame for his actions on drugs but told the judge he found himself in a situation where he wasn’t able to control himself.
Due to an extensive and violent record, Farmer had been in jail for more than 20 months before coming to trial.
“This time was pretty rough and straightened me out a bit. I’ve been talking to my family about moving back (to Six Nations) with them because ever since I left there, I’ve been getting into trouble.”
Assistant Crown attorney Ed Slater said Farmer threatened the clerk at a Market Street restaurant with what could have been a real handgun and used a balaclava to conceal his face.
When he couldn’t get the cash register open, Farmer stole the man’s phone and some drinks from a cooler.
He was found guilty of robbery, wearing a disguise and possession of a weapon, although Slater said a gun was never found and the Crown would have had a tough time proving the weapon was real.
While at Maplehurst jail in Milton, Farmer got into a fight with another inmate and hit him repeatedly, breaking three bones around the man’s eye and leaving him with nerve pain above his lip. Farmer was convicted of assault causing bodily harm.
Although Farmer’s lawyer, Kristianne Anor, argued that terrible pandemic conditions at the jail should have entitled her client to more than the usual extra enhanced time-served credit, Slater and the judge disagreed.
“When you’re part of the problem in the institutional facility, it’s difficult to claim relief for time served,” said Slater about the beating Farmer gave the other inmate,
Good agreed, saying the assault had to be considered, even though the victim wasn’t interested in testifying against Farmer.
Good gave Farmer the usual enhancements for time served, after sentencing him globally on his five convictions, to four years. It left him with about 13.5 months to serve.
“I believe you when you say when you have a clear and sober head on your shoulders you’re ‘not that guy’,” said Good.
“Trauma has shaped who you are as a man but, now that you are a man, you have a responsibility to be a better person than you’ve been.”
@EXPSGamble