BY KEITH LACEY
A career criminal was warned last week he could spend the rest of his life in prison if he commits one more serious crime.
Justice John Poupore of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sentenced Norman Corner, 51, to 42 months in a federal penitentiary on top of one year he's spent in pre-trial custody for his participation in a drug-fuelled night of violence Oct. 2, 2003.
Corner pleaded guilty to break, enter and theft, assault with a weapon and threatening death.
Corner served a 10-year penitentiary term for attempted murder several years ago.
Court heard Corner hit a man in the face with the butt end of a gun, before striking him with a machete.The man suffered minor cuts and was not seriously hurt.
Corner and an accomplice later threatened another woman with death and pointed a firearm at her if she didn't lead them to two men Corner believed had ripped him off for $200 in a drug deal.
?You are getting dangerously close to a dangerous offender or long-term offender designation, which could put you in jail for the rest of your life,? said Poupore.
Court heard Corner, who has battled an addiction to heroin and cocaine for much of his adult life, has spent more than 15 years in the penitentiary and most of his adult life behind bars.
Before getting involved in this incident, he had stayed clean and sober for more than two years and had no trouble with the law, but again started using and was in big trouble again in a very short period of time.
Defence counsel Richard Huneault said Corner comes from a good family and is obviously an intelligent man, but his addiction to hard drugs has been such a focal point of his life he's wasted it doing time.
?In my many years of practice, I don't think I've come across a man of this age, he's 51 now, who has spent so much time in jail,? said Huneault. ?From what I see of his record, he's never, until recently, been able to stay out of jail for more than one year.?
Virtually every one of Corner's dozens of convictions is directly related to his drug abuse, said Huneault.
Considering Corner's ?atrocious record? and the serious violence involved in this matter, he could not oppose the Crown's request for a three-and-a-half year penitentiary term, said Huneault.
Assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg said his office considered an application to try Corner as a dangerous offender, but decided against it.
If Corner commits one more serious offence involving violence, there's no doubt the dangerous offender application will move forward, said Zylberberg.
If this matter had proceeded to trial and Corner had been convicted, the Crown would have sought a much longer sentence than the one Corner received Monday, said Zylberberg.
Corner is obviously intelligent when straight, but this crime calls out for a stiff sentence to protect society, he said.
Before sentence was imposed Corner told the court he's never sought treatment while in custody for his addictions and he plans on getting help this time.
?I would appreciate it if I could get treatment of some kind,? he said.
Poupore recommended Corner receive treatment while in custody.
The judge also prohibited Corner from owning or possessing weapons for the rest of his life.
