Geraldine Brophy/The Western Star
The 21-year-old Corner Brook man was in court to be sentenced for one charge of mischief and five counts of breaching court orders.
Just after midnight on July 2, 2012, Thompson spray painted two vehicles parked in the driveway of an RCMP officer’s home in Deer Lake. The graffiti included expletives specifically directed at the police and images of genitalia.
Thompson and Michael Edward Flynn of Pasadena were identified as suspects. The subsequent police investigation involved acquiring production orders of their cell phone records which showed text messages between the two referring to the vandalism in detail that only those responsible would be aware of.
Flynn was also charged with mischief and his matters are still before the courts.
The court order breaches involving mostly deal with Thompson not adhering to a curfew he was subject to. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in Corner Brook had found him in the Broadway area after his curfew on at least three occasions, in violation of an undertaking and a probation order he was under.
After the facts were read into the record by Crown attorney Lori St. Croix, defence lawyer Robby Ash told Judge Catherine Allen-Westby that the man who committed those offences and other offences on Thompson’s record was not the same person who was now in court.
Ash called Rev. Sean Allen of Corner Brook, a former chaplain at Dorchester Penitentiary who has worked with people with troubled lives for the last three decades, to the stand. Allen told the court that Thompson had sought him out, at the request of Thompson’s family, and that their interaction has helped Thompson find a better path in life.
Allen said Thompson has detached himself from the people in his past and has overcome a problem with drugs and alcohol.
Thompson was involved in a pellet-shooting spree that plagued Corner Brook in 2011 and still has an outstanding charge of impaired driving causing bodily harm before the courts.
Ash then showed the court a 10-minute television interview Thompson did with Heart Matters, a faith-based program out of Gander that airs on NTV every Sunday morning. In it, thompson discusses how he has changed his ways.
Ash said the new Mark Thompson still has to pay for what the old Mark Thompson did, but said a period of two years to 15 months probation would be in both Thompson’s and the community’s best interests. If imprisonment was deemed necessary, Ash asked that it be a short period of house arrest in the range of 30 to 60 days.
“Mark Thompson is of more value on this side of the fence, rather than in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary,” said Ash, arguing his client is not a threat to public safety.
In fact, Ash said Thompson plans to go to bible college and enter into a ministry that, like Allen, helps people with serious challenges in their lives.
St. Croix said Thompson is to be commended for turning his life around, but there have to be consequences for the offences he committed. While she and Ash made a joint submission of 12 months of probation for the mischief charge, she said imprisonment is the norm for breaches of court orders.
Reminding Allen-Westby that the court must not forget the circumstances of the offences in addition to the circumstances of the offender, St. Croix submitted three to five months imprisonment would be appropriate.
Allen-Westby wanted time to consider the decision and will sentence Thompson June 26.
