At least two of the three men sentenced Thursday for their roles in a pair of violent home invasions didn't seem too worried about the jail time.
Sentenced to eight years behind bars, Mitchell Nippard turned to his co-accused and shrugged.
As Tyler Donahue was escorted out of the courtroom after receiving a five-year jail term, he turned to his loved ones and told them, "I'll be out in 10 months."
The third man, Abdifatah Mohamed, showed no emotion as provincial court judge Mike Madden gave him the harshest sentence: 11 years for the two break-in and robberies, as well as weapons charges.
All three will receive significant credit for the time they have already spent in custody, especially Nippard and Mohamed, who have been in jail since they were arrested early last year.
Madden said Donahue was either a lookout or the getaway driver for at least one of the incidents, which saw masked men burst into the home of a pregnant young woman and her sleeping baby daughter, taking an X-Box, the woman's engagement ring and winning lotto tickets worth more than $1,000.
Donahue may not have known whose home it was, Madden said, but "if he didn't know who was inside the home, it only means he didn't care enough to find out."
Nippard was the link between the three men, the judge said, deeming him the organizer of the home invasions.
Mohamed, who represented himself at trial, was the only one of the three men proven to have entered the homes.
Donahue, Nippard and Mohamed, as well as a fourth man, Gary Hennessey, were arrested Feb. 9, after the home invasion involving the young mother on Angel's Road in Paradise. Days earlier, masked men had entered a home on Milton Road in the same community, tying a number of people up and taping their mouths before ransacking the home. The intruders took one man from the house to another location, and assaulted him by beating him in the head with a gun before leaving with cash and jewelry.
Nippard and Hennessey were found in a vehicle not far from the Angel's Road home. Nippard's driver's licence was found in a second vehicle, which was stuck in a snowbank near the home with its engine running. The vehicle also contained DNA from Mohamed.
A police dog tracked scents from that car to Mohamed and Donahue, who were arrested in the snow in a wooded area off the C.B.S. highway.
The body of a fifth suspect, Mohammed Salim, was located a month later behind a dump truck in a quarry off the Trans-Canada Highway. It's believed he perished while hiding from police.
After the trial, Hennessey was acquitted of all charges related to the home invasions.
Madden commended Mohamed for his self-representation despite having no legal training, and noted he had presented a written submission to the court on sentencing, taking responsibility for his crimes and for seeking help for mental health issues, as well as speaking about conditions inside HMP.
The Crown had suggested jail terms of five to seven years for Donahue, 10 1/2 to 12 1/2 for Nippard, and 14 to 14 1/2 for Mohamed, while the defence had argued for four years, six to seven years, and five to eight years, respectively.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
