The Crown is seeking a prison term of between 12 and 14 years for one of three men convicted on charges related to a series of violent home invasions last year.
Abdifatah Mohamed, 28, has a lengthy criminal record that includes previous convictions of manslaughter and robbery with an imitation firearm.
The Crown said during his sentencing hearing Tuesday in provincial court in St. John’s that the home invasions that occurred in the St. John’s, Paradise and Mount Pearl areas had caused the victims a lot of trauma and terror, and a lengthy sentence is warranted.
In the case of Tyler Donahue, 24 — whose sentencing hearing was also held Tuesday — the Crown is seeking a prison term of between five and seven years. Donahue was, the Crown said, a party to the offences, but not a principal.
There were four men arrested in February 2017 and charged in connection with the home invasions that occurred on Fourth Street in Mount Pearl, Mount Royal Avenue in St. John's, and Milton Road and Angel's Road in Paradise between Feb. 3 and 9 last year. During the incidents people were tied up and held at gunpoint, assaulted, their homes robbed and their pets shot by masked intruders.
In addition to Mohamed and Donahue, Mitchell Nippard, 26, and Gary Hennessey, 33, were charged.
The body of a fifth suspect, Mohamed Salim, was located behind a dump truck in a quarry off the Trans-Canada Highway. He is believed to have frozen to death while hiding from police.
Hennessey was cleared of all charges after Judge Mike Madden found there wasn't enough evidence to warrant convictions in his case.
Donahue was found guilty in relation to the Angel's Road incident, as were Nippard and Mohamed. The latter two men were also convicted in connection with the Milton Road home invasion.
Nippard’s sentencing hearing was held on May 29. The Crown has asked for a total jail term of between 10 1/2 and 12 1/2 years in his case.
When Mohamed, who represented himself during the trial, was given an opportunity to address the court during his sentencing hearing, he apologized to all the victims and said he had no intention of causing harm to anyone, but had travelled to Newfoundland from Ontario on a “criminal enterprise road trip.”
“My intention was to seek large amounts of drugs,” he told Madden, while standing at the lawyers table in a dark suit and wearing ankle shackles. “I was never interested in causing harm to anyone.
“I show remorse to the families. There are no words to express how sorry I am. If I could change things, I would.”
Mohamed described a childhood where he was diagnosed with a mental illness, but instead of addressing it, he never accepted it and ran away from home and got into trouble. He spoke of his stays in other prisons in Canada and said his time in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary — since being arrested — has been the worst he’s ever encountered both due to the physical conditions of the institution and his treatment there.
He said, however, he has come to terms with his mental health issues and plans to seek treatment and rehabilitate himself, as he is still a young man.
“I’m not using this as an excuse for a shorter sentence,” he told Madden. “I just have now hope in my eyes, and seen that it’s time for me to change my ways.”
Crown prosecutor Alanna Dwyer reminded the court that the home invasions involved firearms and one of the victims was struck more than once. She said Mohamed travelled from another province to take part in the planning of and carrying out of the home invasions, which had a great impact upon the victims, as was apparent in their testimony during the trial.
In Donahue’s case, Dwyer said that while he did not enter the homes, he knew the impact the offences would have upon the victims.
Donahue’s lawyer, Michelle Elliott, told the court Donahue was the lookout and getaway driver, and he did not participate in the violence. She said Donahue, who has a criminal record involving drug-related offences, is young enough to be rehabilitated and has been working on changing his attitude and altering his ways of thinking.
She suggested a term of between three and four years to be appropriate in his case.
When Donahue addressed the court, he told Madden he was diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder and has been trying to obtain the proper treatment.
He also said he’s determined to turn his life around and has not been in any further trouble since being arrested for the home invasion offences.
“I’ve been trying to rehabilitate myself as best I can,” he said.
During the trial, Dwyer and fellow prosecutor Chris McCarthy acknowledged they would not pursue convictions on charges in relation to the St. John's and Mount Pearl home invasions, due to a lack of evidence.
In the Fourth Street incident, however, a man testified that when he answered a knock on the door, three masked men came in and took two rings off his fingers, put a gun in his mouth and a pillowcase over his head, and stole his PlayStation and controllers, and about $700 in cash.
Two dogs were shot during the incident on Mount Royal Avenue. One of the dogs survived, but was badly injured. Police also discovered four bags of cocaine and bags of marijuana inside backpacks that appeared to have been ditched outside the home.
In the Milton Road incident, a man testified he was in the shed with his father and friends when three masked men burst through the door.
He said he was ordered to get on his knees while the others were put face down on the floor, zip-ties were put on their wrists and black tape was put over their mouth.
He was hit in the head with a .22-calibre pistol and ordered to his feet to lead the intruders inside the house. Once inside, the men tied up the victim's girlfriend and his mother with zip-ties and ransacked the home, stealing cash and jewelry.
They took the victim to a second location on Cameo Drive, a friend's house where he said he kept jewelry.
On Angel's Road, two masked men entered the home of a pregnant woman and robbed her at gunpoint while her 10-month-old daughter slept, pulling her engagement ring off her finger and taking her iPhone, XBox and a lotto ticket worth $1,000.
During his lengthy address Tuesday, Mohamed also expressed sympathy to the family of Salim. He said he was in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary when he heard the news about Salim’s death and it affected him deeply.
He described in detail what he claims has been poor treatment at the St. John’s prison — being denied access to things important to allow him to practice his religion, being kept in segregation for periods of time and being roughed up by corrections officers.
Mohamed will continue his address to the court Wednesday.
Madden is expected to give his decision on all three men’s sentences on July 26.
