Overview
- Judge Ian Hutchison imposed a 12-month term after finding a nearly year-long delay warranted a three-month reduction from an initial 15 months.
- An agreed statement of facts says Tobaccojuice blocked a unit door at the Nova Institution on Oct. 26, 2022 and brandished tweezers shaped into a weapon while the two guards were not injured.
- The court rejected a defence request for an absolute discharge and declined the Crown’s bid for three years, emphasizing deterrence without imposing a sentence that would crush recent progress.
- The judge relied on a Gladue report for the first time in her case, noting years of isolation and suggesting prior sentences may have been too long without Indigenous-background analysis.
- Tobaccojuice is serving a life sentence for a 1997 murder committed at age 15 and has a record of in-prison hostage-takings, and her lawyer said the new sentence further delays her day-parole prospects.