Nunavut appeal court increases sentence for stabbing a cop

A Cambridge Bay youth must now serve out a longer jail sentence for repeatedly stabbing an RCMP officer in 2017, as a result of a decision by the Nunavut Court of Appeal. (FILE PHOTO)

A young Cambridge Bay man who repeatedly stabbed a police officer last spring is returning to jail, following a decision this week by the Nunavut Court of Appeal to increase his original sentence.

Buddy Mala, 19, must now serve out the remainder of a two-years-less-a-day jail sentence for a conviction of aggravated assault of a peace officer.

Mala stabbed an RCMP officer numerous times on June 11, 2017, in an incident that the original sentencing judge, Justice Susan Cooper, described as a “failed attempt of suicide by cop.”

Cooper, in November 2017, sentenced Mala to one year in jail, minus time served, to be followed by a two-year period of probation. At the time, that left him with about five months left to serve.

“The Crown argued that the sentence was unfit,” Crown lawyer Shannon O’Connor told Nunatsiaq News May 17.

After hearing the Crown’s appeal, the appeal panel ruled that Cooper’s sentence did not give enough weight to the principles of denunciation and deterrence, O’Connor said.

That means that under law, a fair sentence will demonstrate the seriousness of an offence and discourage others from committing the same crime.

Mala will now serve another 12 months in jail, minus time served.

After the appeal hearing, he was given 48 hours to turn himself in.

“The seriousness of the offence, a violent offence against a police officer in a remote community, where there is a significant violent component and there are serious injuries, required a higher sentence,” O’Connor said.

Mala’s new sentence of two years less a day also includes a concurrent three-month sentence for possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

In addition to the knife he used to stab the officer, Mala had been running around outside wielding a pellet gun when RCMP officers found him in distress.

At the time, the RCMP officer who was stabbed was medevaced to Edmonton. He has now recovered from the injuries.

When the RCMP found Mala brandishing a pellet gun outside of a Cambridge Bay home, Mala shouted at the two responding officers to “shoot me, shoot me,” Cooper told the court in November.

After Mala stabbed the officer, police tried to Taser him.

But the young man stabbed one of the officers first and yelled “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

He stabbed the same officer again, twice, before the second officer could restrain Mala.

While in custody, the young man said he would “wipe out the cops.”

“The Crown argued that those threats needed to be taken into consideration as well as his actions,” O’Connor said.

In her decision, Cooper said an attack on an RCMP officer is an aggravating factor, but she also found that Mala’s intent was self-harm.

“The incident might be described as a failed attempt of suicide by cop,” Cooper said at the time.

During his first court appearance, Mala had said over the phone that he had prepared a letter of apology.

Mala’s lawyers were unable to comment on the appeal sentence when contacted by Nunatsiaq News. The defence originally argued for three years of probation and time served.

“In their oral arguments the defence argued that Justice Cooper appropriately considered all of the sentencing principles,” O’Connor said.