When it was his turn to present submissions on sentencing in his court case Thursday, Justin Jordan was nothing if not quick and to the point.
“I think six months is good enough,” was all he said.
Judge Colin Flynn agreed, saying he was more inclined to give Jordan, 27, a prison sentence in that range, rather than the 20 months the Crown had suggested.
In the end, Flynn handed Jordan a nine-month jail term, consecutive to the one he is already serving, for assaulting a fellow inmate with a kettle last fall, as well as for assaulting a correctional officer last January.
Prosecutor Jason House played surveillance video capturing both incidents. In the first, Jordan and the victim can be seen playing cards in a narrow, crowded hallway inside HMP, outside the cells. Jordan appears to suddenly head-butt the other man before wrestling him to the floor, throwing punches. At one point Jordan is seen grabbing an electric kettle from a ledge, hitting the other inmate in the head with it, then putting it back where he found it.
The victim, 31, declined to give police a statement, but did allow officers to photograph his injuries, which included abrasions and bruises to his head, face, neck and torso.
In the second video, Jordan appears to argue with two correctional officers, reportedly because he wanted to get his own breakfast instead of taking the breakfast provided to him. He is seen growing agitated and rushes toward one of the officers before he’s tackled. A dozen officers enter the room and Jordan is handcuffed and escorted out a door. The court heard Jordan had bitten the officer during the struggle.
“I’m sick of being treated like a child,” Jordan told investigators, saying he had wanted to get his own breakfast.
Related links:
http://www.thetelegram.com/news/justin-jordan-sentenced-to-three-years-two-months-for-stabbing-accused-murderer-trent-butt-230075/
http://www.thetelegram.com/news/st-johns-man-accused-of-stabbing-fellow-inmate-fighting-to-withdraw-guilty-plea-222406/
In suggesting a 10-month sentence for each of the assaults, House presented Jordan’s criminal record, pointing out Jordan has been in and out of jail since the age of 19. At the time of the assault on his fellow inmate, he was serving a sentence on an assault with a weapon charge. House also noted Jordan was sentenced in provincial court last week to three years and two months behind bars for an aggravated assault on inmate Trent Butt last year. With credit for the time he has been in custody, Jordan has two years and three months remaining.
Jordan had used a piece of a broken exit sign to stab Butt – who is currently awaiting trial for the murder of his five-year-old daughter, Quinn – during a recreation period.
Flynn deemed the assault on the inmate the more serious of the two charges before the court Thursday.
“An institutional setting is a difficult setting; difficult for you because I can see how crowded it is, and difficult for other inmates and staff as well,” the judge told Jordan. “The assault on (the other inmate) was really unprovoked, as I see it. I know these things happen, but it can’t be tolerated in an institutional setting.”
As for the assault on the correctional officer, Flynn said he recognized the difficult job officers have inside HMP.
Flynn sentenced Jordan to six months in jail for the first assault, two months for the second, and a month for breaching a court order to be of good behaviour. The sentence will start once Jordan’s current period of incarceration is finished.
In exchange for Jordan’s guilty pleas, House withdrew a number of other charges, including one for pulling the fire alarm inside HMP without reason.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
