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A B.C. man sentenced to five years in jail for stabbing an unprovoked victim with a kitchen knife has had a year knocked off his sentence because the judge didn't put enough weight on the fact that he is Métis.

In 2018 David Jonathan Michael Kehoe stabbed a man who was playing loud music in the parking lot of his Chilliwack apartment building after yelling at him to turn the music down.

After confronting the man, Kehoe went back to his kitchen, grabbed a knife and went back outside and stabbed the victim.

Kehoe, who has 33 prior convictions, was sentenced to five years in jail for the unproved attack that almost cost the victim his life.

However, Kehoe appealed the jail sentence saying the judge didn't put enough meaningful consideration into his Indigenous heritage.

According to a Jan. 3 B.C. Court of Appeal decision, the three-judge panel agreed.

In Canada, when sentencing an Indigenous person, judges must take into consideration how Canada’s colonial history and post-colonial assimilationist policies have led to alienation, poverty, substance abuse, lower educational achievement, lower rates of employment, and prejudice affecting their lives.

Kehoe argued the judge hadn't taken into account these factors – known as Gladue factors – before sentencing him.

The decision says Kehoe was raised by his Métis mother and his non-Indigenous stepfather.

Kehoe's stepfather was a drug dealer and he grew up in a "dysfunctional household where substance abuse, anger, verbal and emotional abuse" along with criminal activity was normalized.

"There is also no question that the instability in Mr. Kehoe’s childhood contributed to his substance use disorder and anti-social behaviours," Justice Leonard Marchand said in the decision.

The Crown had argued that Kehoe was so removed from his Métis culture that his being Indigenous should only play a very limited role in what jail sentence was handed out.

Crown prosecutors argued Kehoe's offending was related to his non-Indigenous stepfather’s behaviours, not his heritage.

The Court of Appeal disagreed saying that the reasoning was "highly" problematic.

"As a consequence of Canada’s colonial history and assimilationist policies, many Indigenous people have become disconnected from their ancestral communities, cultures, and associated positive social structures. This disconnection has contributed to the social and economic marginalization of Indigenous people in Canada, including their disproportionate interactions with the criminal justice system," Justice Marchand said.

The Justice went on to say that the disconnection Kehoe had experienced was due to Canada’s colonial history and assimilationist policies.

"The judge did not turn his mind to whether and how Canada’s colonial history and post-colonial assimilationist policies played a role in that disconnection and the instability in Mr. Kehoe’s life may have been related to that disconnection," the justice said. "The judge erred in law and failed to consider the role Canada’s colonial history and assimilationist policies may have played in bringing Mr. Kehoe before the court."

The Justice went on to say he did not "find it difficult" to realize that Canada’s colonial history and assimilationist policies played a role in bringing Kehoe before the court.

Ultimately, the Court of Appeal reduced Kehoe's sentence to four years in jail from five.

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