After pleading guilty to break and enter and assault midway through his trial, Charles Edward John Barrons has received a three-year suspended sentence with several conditions.
The former Dalhousie University student was handed his sentence on Aug. 17. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Josh Arnold’s decision comes six months after Barrons pleaded guilty to the charges during a trial in which he was facing six charges altogether. Five other charges, including uttering threats and sexual assault, were dismissed.
Barrons’ trial is a result of charges laid against him following an incident on Sept. 11, 2014.
Break and enter
According to an agreed statement of facts, released in the court decision Tuesday, the incident began when Barrons attended a Halifax bar the night of Sept. 11 where he saw a man with his ex-girlfriend.
The man and Barrons’ ex-girlfriend, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, later left the bar and went to her apartment. At about 1 a.m., Barrons showed up to her apartment and knocked on her door, but on hearing the two inside he broke the door and forced his way inside her bedroom where the two were.
A brief “scuffle” occurred between Barrons and the man, who then left. Barrons then confronted his ex-girlfriend, yelling questions at her before she left and came in contact with another woman. The pair went to the latter’s bedroom to call police. He then entered the room and asked to speak with his former girlfriend but the two women spoke with him in hopes he’d leave. He did and was later arrested when police arrived.
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READ MORE: Pair charged with 3 counts of break and enter in Hamilton
In the judge’s decision, it states a break and enter into a dwelling house and committing an indictable offence results in a sentence of life in prison and removes a conditional sentence for Barrons. The Crown argued for a two-year sentence in federal prison with a three-year probation following, but Barrons argued for a suspended sentence followed by probation.
Prison would jeopardize ‘significant accomplishments’
Barrons’s lawyer, Stan MacDonald, argued the suspended sentence can “have a significant deterrent effect,” and in a brief provided on sentencing by the defence, it states Barrons’ acceptance into law school in Ottawa will “form the community” where Barrons would serve his sentence. MacDonald also argued even a short-term imprisonment would “jeopardize Mr. Barrons’ significant accomplishments.”
Since being arrested and charged, MacDonald said Barrons sought counselling a few days after his arrest and has since been conferring with him every three to four weeks, previously speaking with his counsellor biweekly before moving to Oakville, Ont. He has also kept with his curfew and the no alcohol condition imposed as part of his release, something MacDonald noted was difficult for him being in university for the past few years.
Arnold ruled Barrons would be given a three-year suspended sentence which, after already being under release conditions for the past three years, would “give the justice system control over him for a full six-year period.” Among the conditions include no possession or consumption of alcohol, a daily curfew, 200 hours of community service within 18 months, and he cannot have direct or indirect contact with his ex-girlfriend or the man involved in the incident. In addition, he must attend, participate in and complete any assessment, counselling or treatment directed by probation.
The conditions also require him to arrange for a minimum of two public speaking engagements per year of his sentence discussing his personal criminal justice experience, and ways to end violence against woman. This condition, according to MacDonald, would be something Barrons would be able to do while in law school.
A victim impact statement was also presented during the trial earlier this year, but details of the statement were not released in the court decision, but did say as “much was made” of the statement’s contents during sentencing arguments. The decision goes on to say the Crown agreed to “significant editing” of the statement as it contained references to one of the dismissed charges against Barrons.
Barrons must return to court every six months in order for Arnold to monitor his probation.
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