No such compassion for Perry

 Perry Dunlop was denied opportunity by prison officials to spend a few minutes with his dying grandmother.  Three other Canadian inmates were more fortunate.  Articles in that regard are posted below.  Of the three one was convicted for a rash of violent behaviour and death threats, another was categorized as a possible “dangerous offender” with little hope of rehabilitation, and a third murdered his daughter.  

Perry’s crime? Twofold it seems:   (1) Perry Dunlop let the Children’s Aid Society know in 1994 that two suspect paedophiles were on the loose and children were at risk.  (2) In subsequent years Perry lost faith in the justice system for a host of reasons, not the least of which was (a) as he found himself, rather than the “alleged” paedophiles, had become the focus of police investigations, (b)  his actions, vs those of the “alleged” paedophiles, became the focal point and topic of discussion at sex abuse trials, and (c) he, rather than the “alleged” paedophiles, was the object of ridicule and scorn and vilification by judges and lawyers alike. 

Perry stated he had lost faith in the justice system at the Weave Shed.  He repeated as much to the media.  For this he was eventually convicted on one charge of criminal contempt of court and a second, which evolved out of the first, of criminal contempt. He is currently serving a six month sentence for the civil contempt conviction.  He awaits sentencing on the criminal contempt conviction.  

Despite countless requests Perry was not allowed to go to say goodbye to his dying grandmother – the woman who helped raise him and was clinging to life to see her Perry.  It didn’t happen.  She could wait no longer.  

“Nan”died 20 May 2008.  May she rest in peace. And by the grace of God let's hope and pray that someone somewhere ensures that those heartless officials who coldly and cruelly denied Perry a brief three-hour (max) escorted temporary leave to his grandmother’s bedside in Ingleside, Ontario are not permitted to enact such calculated cruelty on another inmate.

Stratford Beacon-Herald

28 June  2007

Byline: BY PAUL CLUFF, STAFF REPORTER

A judge released a prisoner yesterday who plans to spend time with his dying mother while trying to get his life back on the right track.

Michael Labelle apologized for a rash of violent behaviour including assaulting a woman and threatening to kill another woman and her family.

Justice Kathryn McKerlie took compassion for the 21-year-old's family situation into account in releasing him from custody after 67 days. The judge tacked on 60 days of weekends to the sentence, although that won't begin until the weekend after the Canada Day holiday.

"I lost my dad before I could say goodbye and I would like to see my mom before something happens to her," Mr. Labelle told Justice McKerlie.

Mr. Labelle's mother is terminally ill. His father, Robert Oliver, died from alcohol withdrawal, an inquest determined, while in custody at Stratford Jail where he was serving a sentence for drinking and driving. The circumstances surrounding his father's death are the subject of civil litigation in London, Ont.

Mr. Labelle has been in and out of the criminal justice system and he's struggled with addictions to gambling, alcohol and crack cocaine.

Guilty plea

He pleaded guilty yesterday to threatening to kill a woman and breaching terms of his probation, stemming from three phone calls to the sister of a 17-year-old woman he was dating. About seven weeks later, he assaulted a woman he had drinks with at a downtown bar. The two had returned to Mr. Labelle's mother's house when his girlfriend arrived and caught the two together. He dragged the woman he brought home from the bar out of bed by the feet and punched her in the face, leaving her with cuts and bruises and a black eye. He pleaded guilty to charges related to that incident.

"I should have thought of my mom before I did these things," he said.

Mr. Labelle was ordered to pay $12,500 in restitution to his mother's insurance company for totaling her car after crashing it into in a ditch in 2005. He was convicted of nine offences that year and spent a considerable amount of time in jail.

Justice McKerlie said Mr. Labelle faces a stressful time when released and he will need to take an honest assessment of his life and overcome addictions and tendencies toward crime to avoid landing back in jail.

"You have to ask yourself if you have the strength and the tools to do this," the judge said.

Woodstock Sentinel-Review

31 August 2006

Byline: BY CARLA GARRETT, COURT REPORTER

Dateline: Woodstock

A longtime criminal is free to spend time with his dying mother after a judge granted him an intermittent sentence Wednesday.

With his head down and hands cuffed, Christopher Bragg quietly pleaded guilty to six charges, including escape from police custody, Wednesday in a Woodstock provincial court.

Bragg's mother has terminal stomach cancer and she has a short time to live, defence lawyer Roman Wolyniuk said, asking that Bragg be released from custody on weekdays.

"He (Bragg) and his mother are very close. He is very distraught," Wolyniuk said.

Despite calling him a potential "dangerous offender" with little hope for rehabilitation, Justice Marietta Roberts said she would give him the opportunity to see his mother.

The 32-year-old from Woodstock, will go to jail on weekends to serve the remaining 90 days of his one-year sentence.

He has been in custody since April.

On April 22, Bragg went to the Shades of Green pub where he bought and smoked some marijuana, the Crown told court. He also popped two percocets before heading over to Good Time Charlies.

Bragg then followed a man to the CIBC bank on Dundas Street where he watched the person take money out of a bank machine. Bragg continued following the man to his car. The man, fearing for his life, said the Crown, locked his doors and quickly drove away running over Bragg's foot as he sped away.

Bragg then went to the Gallery Cinemas informing an employee of a "situation" he had.

"I have been to four different places and I don't want to hurt anyone, but I need $2,000 for custody of my child," Bragg had told the employee.

He then pleaded for money from another employee and asked if they could donate it or if he had to take it.

He left empty handed.

Bragg headed to Lady Godiva's next where he asked the employee what his chances were if he grabbed money out of the cash register.

He again left empty handed.

Police arrested him later that night. While admitting his actions to police at the Oxford Community Police Service headquarters, Bragg "lunged out of arms reach and bolted for the door," the court heard.

He escaped out the front door and headed down a dark alley south of Dundas Street.

Shortly after, police found Bragg hiding behind the shower curtain in the bathroom of his Wheeler Street home.

He did this all while on probation for a domestic dispute in October 2005.

"I understand drugs and alcohol are not an excuse for that," Bragg said as he stood in front of the judge.

Bragg is no stranger to the court system boasting a criminal record dating back to when he was 12 years old. Roberts called it "an extreme violent record."

Bragg was also put on probation for two years and is not to attend any local CIBC bank, the movie theatre or Lady Godiva's.

"For rehabilitation sir, I don't have much hope. But that is what probation is for," Roberts said.

He is also ordered to continue getting help for mental health issues.

CBC.CA News

17 March 2008

Robert Latimer, who has spent seven years in prison for killing his severely disabled daughter, visited his ailing mother at a health centre in Wilkie, Sask., on Saturday after being granted a four-day unescorted leave.

The National Parole Board granted the former Saskatchewan farmer the temporary leave from the William Head Institution near Victoria to spend time with family before his day parole begins at a halfway house in Ottawa on Monday.

He quietly boarded a plane and left B.C. on Thursday night. The board did not release news of his release until the following day.

Latimer said little to reporters as they approached him and his wife Laura in the parking lot of the Wilkie and District Health Centre.

He said he would be spending the day with his mother, but declined to give details about her health.

"I guess it's just old age," he said.

On Friday, the parole board said Latimer had been released to visit a sick friend or relative whose condition had worsened.

At his parole appeal hearing in December, Latimer said his mother was ill, but his application for day parole was denied. The board concluded that he had not adequately expressed remorse for killing his 12-year-old daughter Tracy.

The National Parole Board Appeal Division reversed that decision in late February, saying the circumstances of Latimer's offence were unique and it was unlikely he would find himself in a similar high-risk situation.

Latimer, 54, was convicted of second-degree murder after admitting that he killed Tracy in 1993 by placing her in his truck and piping exhaust fumes into it on the family's farm near Wilkie.

He contended it was an act of mercy because Tracy suffered from cerebral palsy and suffered pain from a twisted spine and several surgeries.

The case ignited a continuing national debate on mercy killing.

He began his life sentence without parole for 10 years in January 2001 and spent time in institutions in Alberta and British Columbia. He will not be eligible for full parole for three years.

There are reports that Latimer chose Ottawa to do his day parole because he wants to spare his family in Wilkie further media attention. Still, he has a sister who lives in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean.