Intimidation of a Justice System Participant (Sentencing Cases)

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2020. (Rev. # 90072)

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Offence Wording

Intimidation of a justice system participant or a journalist

423.1 (1) No person shall, without lawful authority, engage in any conduct with the intent to provoke a state of fear in

(a) a group of persons or the general public in order to impede the administration of criminal justice;

(b) a justice system participant or military justice system participant in order to impede him or her in the performance of his or her duties; or

(c) a journalist in order to impede him or her in the transmission to the public of information in relation to a criminal organization.

(2) [Repealed, 2015, c. 13, s. 12]

Punishment

(3) Every person who contravenes this section is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than fourteen years.
[omitted (4)]
2001, c. 32, s. 11; 2015, c. 13, s. 12; 2019, c. 15, s. 47.

– CCC (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Ranges

Case Name	Prv.	Crt.	Sentence	Summary
R v Saddleback, 2019 SKPC 42 (CanLII), per Agnew J	SK	PC	18 months imprisonment 3 years probation	Find summaries of case.
R v Redgun, 2016 ABPC 236 (CanLII)	AB	PC	Suspended	"the accused encountered a person who had alleged that the accused's daughter had been involved in certain criminal acts. The offender accused that person of lying, threatened to assault her, and followed her for a short distance. The accused was 48, had no previous record, and was a First Nations woman who had been abused as a child and who had attended residential school, as had both of her parents and all four of her grandparents. The Court stated that the primary sentencing considerations were denunciation and deterrence (paras 33 and 35), quoted Michel on the importance of protection of witnesses, and stated (para 43) that a violation of s. 423.1 will usually result in incarceration. In this case, the accused's Gladue factors affected her moral blameworthiness, the offence did not reflect her true character, and the Court held that the principles of denunciation and deterrence were met by the fact that the accused would now have a criminal record. She was given a suspended sentence and two years' probation" Find summaries of case.
R v Horton, 2014 ONCA 616 (CanLII), per curiam	ON	CA		"[T]he accused was convicted of intimidating a justice system participant and assaulting a peace officer. Both charges arose out of an incident where the accused kicked an occupied police cruiser, with the intention of intimidating or causing fear in the officer, who was at the time performing police duties. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a sentence of 10 months' imprisonment and two years' probation for the s. 423.1 charge, and imposed a concurrent six months' incarceration for the assault." Find summaries of case.
R v Fensom, 2014 ABQB 238 (CanLII), per Topolniski J	AB	SC	1 year imprisonment	Offender threatened witness with a gun after being charged with aggravated assault. Find summaries of case.
R v Hefferan, 2014 CanLII 13084 (NL PC)	NL	PC		Find summaries of case.
R v Crazyboy, 2012 ABCA 228 (CanLII), per Martin JA	AB	CA	9 months imprisonment	Offender attempted to pressure the complainant not to testify. No threats of violence were made. Find summaries of case.
R v Viscomi, 2012 ABCA 135 (CanLII), per curiam	AB	CA	12 months imprisonment	Offender was charged with assaulting his mother. He called complainant and ordered her to withdraw her statement or else he would cut her tongue out. Find summaries of case.
R v Anglehart, 2012 QCCA 771 (CanLII)	QC	CA		"case involving threats by an inmate against corrections staff. He had previously received a six-month sentence for a similar offence. The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the trial judge’s sentence of four years imprisonment, and substituted a sentence of 18 months, consecutive to time being served on other matters") Find summaries of case.
R v Veillette, 2012 QCCS 4720 (CanLII), per Champagne J	QC	SC		"the accused gave “menacing looks” to a police officer scheduled to testify at a preliminary inquiry, then followed the officer in his vehicle and confronted him in person. The accused had no criminal record, and cared for his schizophrenic wife, his adolescent daughter and his two handicapped brothers. He had spent seven days in pretrial custody. The Court held that the principles of denunciation and deterrence did not require further custody, despite a danger of recidivism, and imposed a period of three years’ probation, including 120 hours of community service." Find summaries of case.
R v Bédard, 2011 QCCS 518 (CanLII), per Champagne J	QC	SC		"the accused, who had a history of convictions for criminal harassment and contempt of court, and who was at the time undergoing trial for another charge of criminal harassment, threatened the Crown prosecutor in the hallway outside of the courtroom. He repeated the threats when subsequently in custody. Although the court rejected the Crown’s application to have the accused declared a long-term or dangerous offender (affirmed 2014 QCCA 628), the Court sentenced him to five years in prison for the intimidation charge, together with three months concurrent for a breach of recognizance" Find summaries of case.
R v Michel, 2010 NWTTC 9 (CanLII), per Schmaltz J	NWT	SC	15 months imprisonment	threatening voicemail messages to crown witness for B&E; alcohol involved; guilty plea Find summaries of case.
R v Desjarlais, 2009 MBPC 45 (CanLII), per Lismer J	MB	PC	2 years imprisonment (intimidation) 2 years imprisonment (assault x 2)	Offender charged with two instances of domestic assault. He told the complainant to "forget everything". Find summaries of case.
R v Augustine, 2007 NBQB 158(*no CanLII links)	NB	SC	3 years imprisonment	Complainant was approached with money and a plane ticket and then threatened that someone would get him if he chose to testify in a trial.
R v Conway, 2005 CanLII 15449 (MB PC), per Preston J	MB	PC	15 months imprisonment	The offender plead guilty to intimidation and breach of probation. He threatened the probation officer and his children. He had a lengthy related record. Find summaries of case.
R v Munro, [2000] OJ No 5993(*no CanLII links)	ON		8 years imprisonment (global)	ON
R v Thuraisingam, [1997] OJ No 5424 (Ont. Gen Div.)(*no CanLII links)	ON		2 years (intimidation) 6 months (asssault)	threats against complainant in a relatively minor assault.

Term	PC	SC	CA	S/S
Defined	Provincial Court	Superior Court	Court of Appeal	Suspended Sentence