Sask. man designated long-term offender after fifth robbery conviction

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After a successful robbery conviction appeal overturned his dangerous offender status, Gary Alexander Iron has been designated a long-term offender for another robbery in 2022.

In 2023, he was convicted of robbing Caswells, a men’s clothing store in downtown Saskatoon. It was his fifth robbery conviction since 2006.

For the second time, the Crown pursued a dangerous offender (DO) sentence. A hearing took place last year in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

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DO hearings assess whether offenders are likely to commit future violent offences, and if so, aim to prevent those offences through either indeterminate sentences, or fixed-length sentences followed by long-term supervision orders.

In 2019, a Saskatoon King’s Bench judge designated Iron a dangerous offender and sentenced him to an indeterminate prison term for using a knife to steal a tray of rings from Bateman Jewellers in downtown Saskatoon in 2014.

It was his third armed robbery in a span of three months.

Iron appealed that robbery conviction in 2021. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal found there were serious procedural flaws in obtaining eyewitness evidence, and problems with a photo lineup that Saskatoon police provided to those witnesses.

He was acquitted on appeal, which automatically overturned his DO designation and sentence. In late 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the Crown’s application to appeal the acquittal.

Two months after he was released from custody, Iron robbed Caswells, leaving an employee with a black eye and a concussion, court heard.

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Defence lawyer Zachary Carter argued for a long-term offender (LTO) designation with a fixed sentence of two-to-three years going forward.

LTO designations also include long-term supervision orders of up to 10 years after an offender is released from prison.

Carter said despite Iron’s mental health disorders, a psychiatrist concluded that his client could be managed in the community if he completes certain treatment programs.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Addabor said Iron’s offending pattern demonstrates a high likelihood of violent recidivism that can only be controlled by keeping him in custody for an indeterminate amount of time.

In his 2019 dangerous offender decision, Justice Murray Acton found that Iron’s 13 prior violent offences established a lifelong pattern of violence that could not be controlled in the community. Iron committed crimes while intoxicated, but refused to stop using drugs and alcohol, Acton noted.

In her closing arguments, Addabor said Iron used drugs while in custody and while on release.

“However, on the evidence before me, which includes the available programming, the effects of aging, the support of his father, and his stated commitment to programming and further education, I consider that Mr. Iron no longer has a high likelihood of future violent offending,” Justice Brenda Hildebrandt concluded in her decision.

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“Therefore, in light of the evidence, I find that the Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt the intractability of violent conduct on the part of Mr. Iron. As such, he does not meet the requirements for a designation as a dangerous offender.”

Hildebrandt sentenced Iron to seven years in prison, followed by a 10-year long-term offender supervision order.

She noted how a forensic psychiatrist agreed with the defence that offenders can be monitored more closely on long-term supervision orders than on parole.

Applying an enhanced credit for Iron’s time spent in pre-sentence custody, he will have just over four years left to serve.

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