Michael Robertson, 30, has been declared a dangerous offender, and sentenced to prison for an indeterminate period of time with no chance of parole for seven years.
Justice Ron Mills delivered his decision at Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon on Thursday morning.
In March 2010, Robertson was declared a long-term offender for two robbery convictions.
He left his halfway house in February 2015, breaching his conditions and in less than a month committed manslaughter in the death of 42-year-old Rocky Genereaux.
In March 2015, Generaux was found at a residence in the 400-block of Avenue I South and died a short time later in hospital.
Roberston testified Genereaux claimed to have HIV, and lunged at him with an uncovered needle. He said the stabbing was in self defence. A jury found Robertson guilty of manslaughter in June 2016.
Mills wrote Robertson would have to be transferred from a prairie region prison to the pacific region (British Columbia and the Yukon Territory), in order to get away from the local gang influence.
However Robertson’s “efforts at that in the past have failed because those institutions’ refusal to accept him, given their skepticism about his gang lifestyle,” wrote Mills. Robertson would have to earn the transfer within the rules and regulations of Correctional Service Canada (CSC), according to Mills.
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Mills also wrote Robertson’s ADHD must be treated, as it is crucial to his rehabilitation.
“The CSC is not going to provide him with the treatment that the experts believe is necessary, and without that treatment, rehabilitation is unlikely,” wrote Mills.
“It is regrettable to note that Justice Mills indicated in his written decision that had he been assured CSC would provide Mr. Robertson with the proper medication and resources to distance himself from past gang associates, his decision may have been different,” Brent Little, Robertson’s lawyer, wrote in a statement.
“We hold the opinion that all Canadian citizens should have access to prescription medications that they require, regardless of whether they are in custody,” Little wrote.
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