Marcus Wilfred Sheena, 29, was sentenced today to two years in a federal prison for stabbing and beating two Penticton men in September 2011.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
October 03, 2013 - 4:02 PM
"I MUST RESIST ANY TEMPTATION TO LOCK YOU UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY."
PENTICTON - A judge resisted throwing away the key on a man who used a hammer and a knife to beat and cut two victims and instead sentenced him in provincial court today to two years in federal prison.
Marcus Wilfred Sheena, 29, has already spent half his life behind bars and now he will give up two more years of freedom for several assault convictions. The federal prison stint will give Sheena access to the Aboriginal Pathways Strategy program.
In deciding Sheena's sentence, Judge Gregory Koturbash took into account Sheena's 48 prior convictions and nearly half as many breached court orders. Many of his crimes were also violent in nature. His last two assaults included stabbing one Penticton man in the neck and hitting another man in the stomach with a ball-peen hammer in September 2011.
Koturbash said this was "senseless and gratuitous" because the two Penticton men did nothing to start the fight. The judge also called Sheena's chances of rehabilitation "bleak."
Nonetheless, Koturbash said "I must resist any temptation to lock you up and throw away the key." The judge acknowledged Sheena expressed remorse and he has reached out to his family and community for support.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict
News from © iNFOnews, 2013