11 years for shooting TTC driver

What's interesting here -- and the reporter, who is very solid, let's us see it but it's subtle -- is that the sentence is actually closer to what the defence sought than what the Crown asked for:

11 years for shooting TTC driver

Betsy Powell      
Courts Bureau     

 

A young man raised by his mother "to reach for the stars" has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for shooting and virtually blinding a TTC bus driver at a Scarborough bus stop in 2005.
...
Mr. Justice Eugene Ewaschuk of the Ontario Superior Court, in handing down one of the toughest sentences in memory for a random attack on a transit driver, said TTC staff and passengers are "vulnerable to criminals armed with weapons and must be protected from them."

Ewaschuk sentenced Chalmers, who was convicted by a jury last November of aggravated assault with a weapon, to 11 years in a penitentiary, less two years for pre-sentence custody.

At Friday's sentencing hearing, Pereira, reading from his victim impact statement in a booming voice, left no doubt about the devastation left by the unprovoked attack.

He said he suffers migraines, has lost his sense of smell, has unending facial pain and fears he will "lose all sight" when he gets older.
...
Crown attorney Joshua Levy had asked for a sentence of 12 to 14 years to send a message of denunciation and deterrence.

...
Defence lawyer Mary Cremer had asked for a 10-year sentence. She told court Chalmers, who has a 6-year-old son, grew up in Scarborough with his mother, stepfather and three siblings. He has a Grade 10 education but has developed a fondness for reading and writing while in jail
James Morton
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Toronto, Ontario
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