Calling him an “under-prosecuted” and “versatile” criminal, the Crown is seeking an indefinite prison sentence for a convicted killer from the Lillooet area who appears to enjoy life behind bars.
Michael Tom was convicted in 2014 of unlawful confinement stemming from a violent altercation with his then-girlfriend in the Lillooet area.
The Crown applied to have the 38-year-old declared a dangerous offender, which would mean he could be jailed for life.
Tom’s dangerous-offender hearing began on Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops.
Crown prosecutor Adrienne Murphy said Tom, who has lived in Lillooet, Kamloops and the Lower Mainland, is unique in that he seems to like being incarcerated.
“Mr. Tom may well prefer to be in jail,” she said.
“He has made comments to that. He said he found in jail he had more of a family than he did outside.
“There is a structure there.”
Murphy said Tom was “born into tragedy” and grew up in the Lillooet area.
“The issue we’re looking at here is whether there is a reasonable prospect for his future,” she said.
“The reasonable expectation is that he will commit a future serious violent offence.”
Murphy said Tom’s criminal record is not reflective of his actual behaviour in the community.
She filed a book of 28 police reports — some prosecuted, some unprosecuted and some partially prosecuted — to boost her claim.
“There are shortcomings in Lillooet for the justice system and social services,” Murphy said.
“It’s possible, over the years, that Mr. Tom has been under-prosecuted.”
Murphy said Tom’s offending doesn’t follow a particular pattern.
“Mr. Tom, he’s called a versatile offender,” she said. “He offends against a great number of people.
“He’ll spit on children on the riverbank.
“He’ll be out with friends and tell Buddy A to put his hands behind his back and tell Buddy B to beat up Buddy A.
“He’s the type of individual who will see a man entering a store to buy a Slurpee and threaten the man in front of his children.
“It’s the manner in which he erupts.”
Defence lawyer Ken Sommerfeld said Tom, who received a four-year sentence for manslaughter after shooting and killing his uncle when he was 20, deserves another chance on the outside.
“For sure, Mr. Tom is pretty bad and there’s a lot of his life that explains that,” Sommerfeld said, pointing to a difficult childhood and other First Nations issues as a result of residential schools.
“A guy like Mr. Tom, we owe him some serious consideration here. It’s my submission that the in-between solution here is for a person like him.
“In the First Nations and offending scene, particularly with this drunken violence problem, it’s a matter of judicial awareness that people like Mr. Tom tend to burn out in their 40s and 50s.
“It stops because they get to an age where they just don’t do it anymore.”
Sommerfeld is seeking a determinate sentence followed by a 10-year supervision order in the community.
Tom’s dangerous-offender hearing, in front of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan, is expected to finish tomorrow.