Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Criminal law — Sentencing — Applicant sentenced to 4.5 years’ in custody for terrorism, in addition to 43.5 months of pre-sentence custody — Court of Appeal increased Applicant’s sentence to 10.5 years, plus time served — Whether the Court of Appeal accorded sufficient deference to the decision of the sentencing judge? — Whether the Court of Appeal treated Applicant’s offence as akin to conspiracy to commit murder? — Whether the Court of Appeal articulated an inappropriate range of sentence? — What sentencing principles apply to terrorism? — Were those principles applied correctly by the sentencing judge in this case?

On September 28, 2009, Mr. Gaya, a member of the so-called “Toronto 18”, entered a guilty plea before Durno J. of the Superior Court of Justice to one count of terrorism. On January 18, 2010, Durno J. sentenced Mr. Gaya to 4.5 years’ imprisonment. In arriving at that sentence, the sentencing judge credited Mr. Gaya with 7.5 years for the 43.5 months that he had spent in pre-sentence custody. Hence, Mr. Gaya received the equivalent of a 12-year sentence. With respect to parole, the sentencing judge declined to make an order under s. 743.6(1.2) of the Criminal Code requiring that M. Gaya serve one half of his sentence before being eligible for parole. The Court of Appeal allowed the Crown’s appeal and increased Mr. Gaya’s effective sentence from 12 to 18 years. Taking into account the 7.5 years credited for pre-sentence custody, the Court of Appeal increased Mr. Gaya’s sentence from 4.5 years to 10.5 years. The Court of Appeal also made an order requiring Mr. Gaya to serve one half of his sentence before being eligible for full parole.