A Penticton man previously jailed for driving over a teen and stabbing a roommate will have to wait to hear whether he will be spending more time behind bars or whether his rehabilitation efforts have been enough to keep him out of prison this time.
Sean Garrett Duffy appeared in Penticton’s provincial court on Oct. 30, for Crown and defence to give their submissions on his sentence.
Crown is seeking a four-year jail sentence across three different cases, while his defence is seeking a conditional sentence he could serve in the community.
Duffy had earlier pleaded guilty to two separate cases of possession of a firearm while he was under a firearms prohibition, one charge of driving while disqualified and one assault.
He had been charged with nine weapons-related charges including careless use of a firearm, possessing and carrying a restricted firearm and assaulting a police officer stemming from a Feb. 18, 2022 incident in Penticton.
He was also before the court for a charge of assault in connection to a November 2021 incident – driving while prohibited, carrying a firearm, and breaching conditions during an October 2021 incident.
On Oct. 14, 2021, Duffy was stopped by police, and after being asked to exit the vehicle, attempted to reach a satchel inside. The officer ordered Duffy to place the satchel on the hood. Within it was a conductive energy weapon, colloquially referred to as a taser, which he was prohibited from possessing.
A replica handgun was then found in the waistband of his pants as he was being arrested.
On Nov. 11, 2021, a resident, of the apartment building where Duffy lived, stopped at his door to read a notice containing anti-vaccination info that was stuck to it. Duffy opened the door, and then promptly shoved the man twice in the face with a closed left hand. The other man’s face was bloodied, but otherwise, he did not suffer long-term injury.
The last and most recent incident occurred on Feb. 18, 2022. A resident at a Penticton apartment complex called to report a man for walking around the parking lot and into the building with a pistol and shotgun the night before. Surveillance footage from the apartment building backed up the call, along with showing what appeared to be Duffy pointing at parked cars with the pistol.
When Duffy was being taken to dinner by his father, the RCMP stopped the pair and attempted to arrest Duffy. He briefly resisted, however, after he was arrested it was discovered that he was wearing a full soft-body-armour Kevlar-type vest.
In the panels of the armour was a loaded .22 calibre pistol, along with extra ammunition for the pistol and 12-gauge shotgun ammunition. On the passenger side of the truck was a soft-guitar case with the loaded sawed-off shotgun.
The pistol was described by the Crown as a “zip gun,” a complete firearm that uses pieces from multiple other kits and pieces, with the serial number filed off.
Additional ammunition was also recovered. A search of his residence uncovered further prohibited items, including knives, “tiger claws” or gloves with sharp spikes attached and aluminum knuckles.
Duffy has a lengthy criminal history, including most recently a conviction from October 2021, when he was sentenced to 12 months in jail for the lesser charge of fear of injury for a December 2020 crime in Penticton.
He was released early but was back in jail after the Feb. 18, 2022 incident. He was then released in August 2022, after which he went into a drug treatment facility.
Duffy’s rehabilitation since entering the facility was noted by both the Crown and defence, as he has been made an honorary house manager at the facility and is attending programming there.
It was noted by defence that when he started at the facility, Duffy as a diabetic was regularly testing for blood sugar levels around three to six times the general maximum healthy amount, which contributed to his aggressive behaviour.
He also has undergone opiate replacement therapy with saboxone, and has completed that program after several months of being sober.
Defence said that he had been offered a position at the treatment facility for employment and that the structured nature and the support of the facility would help to keep Duffy clean and thus, effectively, out of criminal behaviour.
The judge expressed that they would need more time to weigh the case law and submissions from the lawyers before presenting a decision.
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In 2016, Duffy, then 31, was driving while impaired when he hit a 19-year-old girl who was on the sidewalk. The young woman was pinned beneath the pickup, requiring emergency responders and bystanders to free her. She suffered serious injuries but survived.
Duffy was sentenced to one year in prison and a five-year driving ban. He was also sentenced to a one-year jail term for a charge of aggravated assault related to stabbing his roommate in 2016 in Abbotsford. The second crime also levelled the lifetime weapon prohibition against him.
The date for when Duffy will return to court to hear his fate has not yet been set.
