Meth addict jailed for series of 2022 crimes
Kyle Robert Douglas Oram, 34, was arrested repeatedly last year for break-ins, thefts, driving offences
A judge rejected a New Brunswick man’s request to be sentenced to time he’d already served on remand for a series of thefts, break-ins and other crimes in 2022, imposing a lengthy jail term instead.
Kyle Robert Douglas Oram, 34, of Route 101 in Clarendon, about 40 kilometres northwest of Saint John, went through a sentencing hearing in Fredericton provincial court last week for numerous offences to which he’d pleaded guilty.
Many of his charges arose from events in Saint John and other nearby areas, but Oram had them transferred to Fredericton for guilty pleas and sentencing.
After hearing the facts and submissions from the prosecution and defence last week, Judge Cameron Gunn had reserved his decision on sentence to Monday, and Oram, who’s been remanded into custody since last fall, was back before him to learn if he’d spend more time behind bars.
The Crown had argued for a jail term of 22 to 28 months, less credit for time spent on remand, but defence lawyer Charlotte Cowley recommended a shorter sentence that would equate to the time Oram had already served.
She argued that his many crimes flowed from a recently developed addiction to crystal meth, but since being held in custody, Oram has begun to turn things around, even taking steps to address his addiction issues.
While he has a prior criminal record, Cowley said, 13 years had passed between his earlier crimes and his troubles in 2022. That gap merited a lesser sentence, she said.
But Gunn said while there are several mitigating factors in Oram’s favour, numerous aggravating elements had to be addressed as well, such as the significant losses victims sustained in the crimes, and the fact that Oram kept getting released after several arrests, only to reoffend.
Court heard last week that Oram and a woman broke into an Oromocto car wash last spring and caused almost $10,000 in damage.
In the Saint John area, he was also caught driving a stolen U-Haul truck and broke into storage units in Rothesay.
Oram was also caught by one particular police officer driving while suspended in the Welsford area four times over the span of a couple of months last year, court heard, and on one of those occasions, he sped away from the officer at a high rate of speed, only to crash and roll the vehicle over onto its roof.
“This happened over an extended period,” Gunn said Monday. “The break and enters are serious.”
The cumulative effect of the crimes merited a longer jail term than what the defence was seeking, he said, imposing a total of 25 months and five days for Oram’s various crimes.
That’s to be reduced for time already served, which - after the customary 1.5-to-one credit for remand time - comes to 8½ months, the judge said.
That means Oram’s sentence going forward comes to about 17½ months.
Gunn also placed the offender on probation for two years, during which he must participate in any assessments and treatment programs as directed by his probation officer.
The judge imposed a two-year driving prohibition as well, to begin once Oram is released from jail.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.