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Judge Kim Young imposed the Crown’s proposed sentence of four years and eight months, calling the offences ‘terrible’ and ‘disturbing’
Author of the article:
• Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Publishing date:
Dec 07, 2022 • 18 hours ago • 2 minute read 
The Provincial Courthouse in Saskatoon. Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix
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Stephanie Janet Halkett had five recent driving-related convictions on her criminal record when she held a knife to a car salesman’s neck and threatened him with pepper spray during a test drive from a Saskatoon dealership in June.
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She then drove the stolen 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer over a median and into oncoming traffic, losing a front tire and continuing to drive through alleys “while throwing rubber from the tire into members of the public,” Crown prosecutor Janyne Laing told a Saskatoon provincial courtroom last month.
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Halkett, 25, was arrested after smashing into two police vehicles that had surrounded the SUV, causing one officer to suffer a concussion, court heard.
She pleaded guilty to several charges, including dangerous driving, flight from police and robbery.
Judge Kim Young imposed the Crown’s proposed sentence of four years and eight months in custody, calling the offences “terrible” and “disturbing.”
“Protection of the public has got to loom large here in sentencing. You can have all of the nice rehabilitative intentions you want, but if the public is in danger from Stephanie Halkett, then certainly that must be considered as well,” Young said.
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“Certainly she’s got Gladue issues up the yin-yang. There’s so much that she’s been through in her upbringing, and in her family situation that is very, very sad.”
Arguing for a slightly lower sentence, defence lawyer Laura Mischuk said her client, who is from the Lac La Ronge First Nation, disclosed her childhood sexual abuse, for which her abuser went to jail, to a pre-sentence report writer tasked with specifically canvassing Gladue factors.
Her mother’s alcohol use disorder led to Halkett being in foster care until she found a stable, supportive adopted mother who now helps take care of her children while she deals with her own addictions issues, Mischuk told court.
She said Halkett hopes to serve her time at the Willow Cree Healing Lodge because of its programs, and has already received support from the Elizabeth Fry Society, addictions services at Pine Grove Correctional Centre and STR8 UP, an organization that helps people who have left gangs.
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“She indicates that things really did take a turn when she moved to Saskatoon and started engaging in this behaviour, and having more addictions issues with the Terror Squad gang members. The addictions issues obviously linger,” Mischuk said.
Halkett’s global sentence encompasses guilty pleas in relation to two other incidents from earlier this year. In March, Halkett was the passenger in a stolen GMC Jimmy whose driver fled from police, and the next month she was spotted by police driving a stolen van, Laing said.
She received an enhanced remand credit of eight and a half months.
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