(CHARLOTTE HELSTON - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

A Vernon man with dozens of convictions successfully got his jail sentenced reduced, despite his pattern of ignoring court orders.

Dennis Rae Dafoe, 54, was caught driving while prohibited twice within a month in 2022. He pleaded guilty to two charges earlier this year, but a provincial court judge balked at a joint submission that proposed 120 days in jail.

"The only mitigating factors are his guilty pleas, which he intended to do early on. But that was simply an acknowledgment of the inevitable. It deserves minimal credit," the Vernon judge said at the time.

Dafoe was given an eight-month jail sentence, followed by a year under house arrest. His driving prohibition was already set to last until 2034.

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He had 60 criminal convictions since 1988, including seven four shirking court orders, when he was pulled over near Falkland in April 2022 while driving 30 km/h over the speed limit.

The next month he was pulled over in Vancouver, where he was also found to be drunk behind the wheel. Although he didn't blow over the legal limit, Dafoe has four previous convictions for drunk driving.

His most recent conviction was in 2021, for which he was sentenced to 60 days in jail, while he was under lengthy and overlapping driving prohibitions. Nine months after he was released, Dafoe was caught driving again in Falkland.

Dafoe appealed his most recent sentence and successfully convinced a higher court to abide by the plea agreement with Crown prosecutors.

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His defence counsel said the justice system benefited from his guilty plea, adding that pleas are "incentivized" with joint submissions. It can have a "chilling" effect on the justice system when judges thwart them, he said.

His defence counsel also said Dafoe is working and owns his condo, suggesting he has "stability" in his life, "unlike many people who appear before the court," the decision read.

Justice Robert Punnett said the joint submission was "not so unhinged" that it would be disreputable for the justice system, deciding to reduce Dafoe's sentence to the original 120-day proposal.

He will also have to pay a $1,000 fine.

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