Rengel killer's sentence appeal denied

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 15, 2010

 

David Bagshaw was four days from his 18th birthday when he stabbed Stefanie Rengel to death at the urging of his jealous 15-year-old girlfriend. (Toronto Police Service)

 
A young man who pleaded guilty to stabbing a 14-year-old girl to death in exchange for sex with his girlfriend has had his bid to be sentenced as a youth denied.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario on Wednesday quashed an appeal of a life sentence by David Bagshaw, who pleaded guilty to stabbing Toronto teen Stefanie Rengel on New Year's Day in 2008.

He was just four days shy of his 18th birthday at the time, but received an adult sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

His lawyers had said he should have received a youth sentence of 10 years.

 

 

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Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre

 

It's a fact we have two sentencing guidelines with a strict age limit of 18. Obviously there has to be an age where the sentencing changes,.

The alternative is a formula that starts at the low end at a low end and ends up at 25 years for the high end.

The problem is , politicians who depend upon a knee jerk support of a tough on crime approach, do society a disservice by removing from Judges their ability to customize a sentence that is appropriate for the guilty person under the circumstances.

It begs the question as to why judges are treated with such mistrust and disrespect?

The answer is because society regards judges as a result of the behaviour of a few, the underbelly, the psychopaths like Allan Sheffield and Denis Power who get to be judges and spend their careers leaving endless trails of destruction not to mention destruction and ill-repute the the judiciary and the legal profession.

David Bagshaw is what is called "damaged goods", his odds of becoming normal is entirely remote, his probability of reoffending is almost guaranteed as is Melissa Todorovic but being female, its amazing that we are not yet hearing how she is was the victim. Just wait till her parole comes around and she does a Karla Homolka on us.

Society treats mental health issues as a taboo, it is a 100 billion dollar mistake that generates most crime, most civil, family and criminal litigation which has a fair chance of ending up in front of a judge who was NEVER screened for personality or mental health problems and who makes decisions that have nothing to do with law or what is expected from an impartial objective tribunal.

www.OttawaMensCentre.com