Aaron Harnett: Client’s G20 sentence “careful and sophisticated”

Article Originally Published on September 29, 2011 by Advocate Daily. 

Toronto criminal lawyer Aaron Harnett says the “extremely careful and sophisticated” conditional sentence handed to his client for his part in smashing windows during the G20 summit, may not be available for judges to mete out after the omnibus crime bill passes and brings “American style” justice to Canada. See Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, CityTV

“Sentencing an accused person is one of the most difficult tasks a judge must face,” says Harnett. “There are so many competing interests and factors to balance to arrive at a just result. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s absurd and irresponsible message to Canadians has been that we can’t trust judges to do this job properly, and that we should tie their hands and remove the tools they have been using to mete out justice.

“Putting Mr. Henry behind bars in the unique circumstances of this case would have been a terrible and wasteful mistake, a mistake which we thankfully avoided,” says Harnett.

Harnett’s client, Robin Henry, 22, pleaded guilty to two mischief charges and a single count of wearing a disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence. Listen to Aaron Harnett on CBC’s Metro Morning

Justice Andrea Tuck-Jackson sentenced Henry  to a year of house arrest, two years probation and 240 hours of community service, which she agreed he may perform in Africa caring for AIDS children with his father. Harnett told the court that after the G20 incident, during which Henry joined the frey with the Black Bloc and smashed windows at Starbucks and Bell Mobility outlets, his client spent a month in Africa caring for children afflicted with the illness. Harnett says his client is remorseful as shown in an apology he wrote the court, in which he calls himself a “thug.” Read Letter