The man charged in the stabbing of a woman at a downtown ATM last year will serve a life sentence in a federal penitentiary.
Michael John Duperron, 30, appeared in provincial court Monday.
He had originally been scheduled for a dangerous offender hearing that day. The prosecution had been seeking to have Duperron declared a dangerous offender, which would have allowed for indefinite detention of Duperron with parole eligibility after seven years.
However, the Crown dropped dangerous offender designation efforts when the defence agreed to have Duperron enter an additional guilty plea for a charge of robbery that carries a life sentence.
Duperron had already entered guilty pleas to aggravated assault and for a breach of a long-term supervision order (by possessing a firearm) in connection to an early-morning stabbing of a woman using the ATM at RBC on Feb. 12, 2010. Duperron stabbed the woman in the back, stole her keys and had unsuccessfully tried to steal her vehicle. The woman later recovered in hospital and was released.
Both Crown prosecutor Glen Jacques and Legal Aid defence lawyer Bill Archer agreed to the new plea arrangement and made a joint submission to Judge David Kaiser in provincial court. After further research into the issue of the date when Duperron would become eligible for parole, the two lawyers recommended a life sentence with eligibility for parole coming seven years from the time of arrest.
That was the sentence Kaiser handed down to Duperron Monday afternoon. He also ordered a lifetime firearms prohibition and the taking of a DNA sample for the DNA databank.
Both lawyers were satisfied with the sentencing arrangement. Archer told reporters the sentence balanced the protection of the public with the interests of Duperron.
The sentence gives everything normally imposed by a dangerous offender designation, said Archer, but "doesn't carry with it the social stigma that sometimes arises with the dangerous offender designation."
The Crown went along with the joint submission for the life sentence because it achieved the goals the Crown had sought.
"The Crown was seeking a sentence that was indefinite in length," said Jacques, because a sentence was needed "that would last as long as necessary that would deal with Mr. Duperron because of his personal circumstances and likelihood of recidivism and committing crimes again."
"A life sentence is an indefinite sentence, just as the finding of dangerous offender," said Jacques, who called the sentence an "appropriate outcome."
A major consideration for the court was Duperron's background, which includes a long history of mental instability, though the judge noted his condition was never satisfactorily diagnosed.
Judge Kaiser noted Duperron came from a "deeply difficult and troubled background," with a long history of abuse.
The judge also heard the testimony of Dr. Roger Holden, qualified as an expert in forensic psychology, who conducted the forensic assessment report on Duperron to determine whether he fit the dangerous offender status.
While he said he concluded Duperron did fulfill the criteria of a dangerous offender, he suggested it would be better for him in the long run if he did not have to carry the stigma associated with dangerous offender status.
Dr. Holden testified that given the choice between dangerous offender status and a life sentence, he preferred to see a life sentence for Duperron for those reasons.
Holden told the court Duperron was capable of "unpredictable behavior" and called his latest offence a "considerable escalation of potential for violence." He said Duperron needed a "highly structured environment", probably institutional, for the rest of his life.
