Judge declares man dangerous offender after violent robbery committed with son

A Manitoba man with a long history of violent crimes including a violent home invasion committed with his son has been given an indeterminate sentence after a judge declared him a dangerous offender.

Jason Kirton, who is in his 40s, and his son Dylan Atkinson, now 26, were convicted of break and enter, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and assault with weaponin February 2017 in connection with a home invasion on March 29, 2014.

The two broke into a home on Selkirk Avenue, where there had been a party earlier that day. The two victims, who were both 17, awoke to find Kirton and Atkinson who was armed with a loaded firearm inside the house. Kirton slashed the two teens with a pair of scissors and Atkinson beat them with the butt of the gun, demanding money and drugs.

Kirton'spattern of violent behaviour is the use of violence as ameans to an end, whether the end is a response to a perceived slight, an attempt to intimidate, or affecting a momentary goal.- Justice VicToews

Crown prosecutors argued that the incident formed a pattern of violent behaviour and requested he be designated a dangerous offender, which carries with it an indeterminate sentence unless the defence can show there is a reasonable expectation a lesser sentence can adequately protect the public.

On Tuesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Vic Toews granted the Crown motion.

"I find that Kirton's pattern of violent behaviour is the use of violence as a means to an end, whether the end is a response to a perceived slight, an attempt to intimidate, or affecting a momentary goal," Toews said in his decision.

'Done' committing crimes

Kirton's defence opposed the dangerous offender designation. Lawyer Ian Garber argued that Kirton's violent behaviour was "situational and foolish" and that he had done well in programming while incarcerated.

Kirton also promised that he was "done" committing crimes.

Toews rejected that argument, pointing to an assessment by Dr. Scott Woodside, a psychiatrist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, who testified that Kirton met all the criteria for antisocial personality disorder and that he "presented with significant psychopathic traits."

'Mr.Kirton'sstatement that he's ready to change would amount to a mere hope.'- Crown counselChantalBoutin

Woodside also testified that although Kirton had taken some programming while in custody, he repeatedly relapsed once he was released into the community.

Kirton has a long criminal history stretching back to 1995, with numerous convictions for assault, armed robbery, breaching parole conditions.

In 2011, Kirton stabbed his brother Corey 29 times after the two got into an argument.

"Mr. Kirton's statement that he's ready to change would amount to a mere hope, because there's nothing in the evidence that can get you there," Crown counsel Chantal Boutin said at a hearing on Dec. 12, 2017.

Kirton's dangerous offender designation effectively amounts to a life sentence, but his designation will be reviewed every two years. His first chance to earn early release will come March 29, 2018.

Supreme Court rules on dangerous offenders

Changes made to the Criminal Code in 2008 made it easier to assign indeterminate sentences to dangerous offenders. Under the new legislation which Toews introduced as justice minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's governmentjudges were required to put public safety first when determining sentencing, putting the onus on the defence to show that a lesser sentence could reasonably be expected to protect the public.

A Supreme Court of Canada decision in the caseR. vs.Boutilieron Dec. 21 flipped that onus back onto the Crown to prove that the longer sentence is neededto protect the public.

Toews nevertheless decided that Kirtonrequired an indeterminate sentence.

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In addition to his prison sentence, Kirton will be required to submit a sample of his DNA to a national database, and he is under a lifetime weapons ban.

Atkinson was sentenced to 9 years in prison, and also has a lifetime weapons ban. He has a previous conviction for manslaughter for a gang-inspired firebombing of a North End house in 2007 that killed a 14-year-old boy.

Atkinson and another man, both of whom were members of the Indian Posse, mistakenly bombed the house believing it belonged to rival drug dealers, but that house was farther down the street.