(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)

BROKE INTO A RURAL HOME THE FIRST DAY UNDER HOUSE ARREST

KAMLOOPS — A man caught red-handed for a break and enter just one day after he was sentenced to house arrest for a previous conviction will now spend the next four years in prison after a judge’s decision today, Sept. 8.

Jason Aran Martin, 40, was convicted of breaking and entering stealing guns and other valuables from a rural property outside of Kamloops on Aug. 9, 2014.

Martin and other suspects broke into a trailer and stole a gun cabinet containing two guns. They also stole two ATVs. Martin, whose face was caught on a security camera on the property, committed the theft less than 24 hours after being released on a conditional sentence order in Surrey for possessing stolen property. Conditional sentences are typically served at home under curfew and with several conditions attached.

That house arrest sentence was terminated earlier today in Kamloops Provincial Court. Martin will serve the remaining 13 months of that sentence consecutively with a three-year federal jail sentence for the break and enter.

Justice Sheri Ann Donegan said Martin showed “complete and utter disregard for the courts” by breaching his order a day after his sentence. Whatever Martin said to convince the judge from Surrey to give him a conditional sentence was denounced as "untrue at worst or hopelessly naive at best."

Donegan noted Martin demonstrated some remorse by showing officers where the ATVs were hidden, but not the guns.

Standing up to speak to the court, Martin acknowledged Donegan may not believe what he had to say, but said he was committed to bettering himself.

“I wouldn’t expect you to accept anything that came out of my mouth,” Martin said. "Please allow me the opportunity to show the courts that I’m a changing man. I’ve overcome and risen above this adversity." His lawyer, Jordan Allingham, supplied several letters of support, including one from the chaplain at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre which stated Martin made efforts to change.

Allingham submitted for a one-year jail sentence for his client to be served concurrently with his remaining months on the previous conditional sentence.

Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston suggested a three-year sentence given Martin’s lengthy criminal record which has 52 convictions, including 16 for similar property related offences. 

He noted the man who’s property was stolen was deeply affected by the incident and is still coping with emotional stress.

“This is the sort of offence that does cause that sort of anger and insecurity to bubble in people,” Livingston said.

Included in her three-year sentence, Donegan handed Martin a lifetime ban on owning firearms and ordered the accused to submit DNA to the national criminal registry.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015