Shaun Clayton Robinson will spend the next five years in federal prison for assaulting two men that left one with shotgun pellets in his leg and another with severe facial lacerations.
Robinson, 43, from Moose Jaw, appeared in provincial court recently and pleaded guilty to break and enter with intent, aggravated assault, and three charges of breaching court orders.
The Crown stayed more than a dozen other charges.
As part of a joint submission, Robinson received five years in jail for the break-in, two years concurrent — at the same time — for the aggravated assault, and 30 days concurrent for the breaches. He must give a DNA sample, is prohibited for life from owning firearms and must forfeit all weapons seized during the incidents.
Since he spent 302 actual days on remand after his August 2021 arrest, the court credited him with 453 days based on the formula of time-and-a-half. This means he will serve 1,372 days in jail or about 3.8 years.
Robinson and co-accused Jordan Shields arrived at the trailer court on Ninth Avenue Northeast early on March 27, 2020, armed with a customized cane, a shotgun, and a pit bull and broke into the home of Nathan Forbes, explained Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff.
Robinson smashed Forbes in the head with the cane, and when the latter defended himself, Robinson fired the shotgun near Forbes’ left knee, Yusuff continued. The injury required emergency surgery, and doctors later removed 13 pellets from Forbes’ leg but left four pellets since they were too close to an artery.
After firing the gun, Shields unleashed his dog and the animal sunk its teeth into Forbes’ neck, puncturing the skin. Forbes pulled off the animal by grabbing it by its collar. Shields then punched Forbes in the head before fleeing.
During a trial on March 19, 2021 in Court of Queen’s Bench on a different matter, Shields was sentenced to 5.5 years in federal jail.
Following that trial, he pleaded guilty to breaking and entering and committing assault for the March 27, 2020 incident. He received 50 months tacked onto the first jail sentence but will serve 32.1 months due to court credit. This is almost 100 months or 8.3 years in jail.
The second incident in which Robinson was involved occurred at 2:48 a.m. on Aug. 24, 2021, when police went to a home on Main Street North for an assault, Yusuff said. Officers found the victim outside with severe facial lacerations and numerous bumps on his head.
The victim told police that three people broke in and assaulted him. He also alleged that one assailant carried a shotgun.
Five years of jail for the break-in and two years concurrent for the assault is a “very lenient position” compared to similar incidents, the Crown prosecutor added. This joint submission is a quid pro quo between the Crown and defence because one witness was reluctant to speak while the Crown had issues with its case.
Robinson committed these crimes because of a drug addiction, which began in Grade 9 with cannabis and escalated to cocaine and methamphetamines into adulthood, defence lawyer Jill Drennan.
The man hopes to access treatment resources in prison, while he plans to return to Moose Jaw afterwards and acquire further tools for sobriety, she added. He has taken responsibility for his actions and wants to get on with life.
“I just want to get it done and over with,” Robinson confirmed by video.
Judge Daryl Rayner accepted the joint submission and waived the victim surcharge fee.
