This is a sentence appeal from a five-year sentence imposed on the appellant for breaking and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit an indictable offence under section 348.1(a) of the Criminal Code, sexual assault under section 271 of the Code, and knowingly uttering a threat to injure an animal under section 264.1(1)(c) of the Code. The breaking and entering offence resulted in a five-year sentence.
In brief, the appellant, who was about 42 at the time of sentence, went to the victim’s house in 2003 when he knew the male occupant would be at work and not at home, broke down a barricaded door, and sexually assaulted the victim. The accused allegedly threatened to kill the victim’s cat during the assault in order to force her to comply with his wishes. Prior to this incident, the appellant and the victim were in a relationship, and the victim was living with another man at the time.
The circumstances of the offence are aggravated to the extreme because it was clear from certain communications between the appellant and the victim that the victim feared the appellant would come into the house and harm her, so she and her partner took steps to barricade the house’s entrances. The appellant, on the other hand, managed to avoid the barricade and gain access to the house at a time when he expected the victim to be present and the male occupant to be absent. Despite the victim’s attempts to hide from the appellant, he eventually tracked her down and sexually assaulted her. It had a significant impact on her. The police were called and he was arrested at the scene.
The nature of the crimes included breaking into the victim’s home and sexually assaulting her. This victim, like any other Canadian citizen, has the right to feel safe and secure in her own home. Section 348.1 requires that this be regarded as a significant aggravating factor. He used threats and violence against the victim. These included violently grabbing the victim’s hair and pulling it out, threatening to kill her cat, threatening to beat her up if she didn’t cooperate, slapping her across the face, and threatening to bite off her clitoris.
The appeal from the sentence was dismissed.