Shane Morgan has been sentenced to a year in jail for a crime spree that included assaulting his ex-girlfriend and committing a string of break-and-enters in Barrie and Orillia.
“I can’t put into words, but I have to try,” the woman said in her victim impact statement, presented at the Barrie courthouse. “(Morgan) has negatively affected every aspect of my life.”
The woman told court in her statement that what she endured at Morgan’s hands forced her out of a good job.
“I don’t want to go through this madness again,” she told the court through her statement.
Morgan pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman in June 2023.
He then ran into her a few months later by chance at Centennial Park in Orillia and pursued her through the greenspace.
That incident added another charge to his rap sheet.
There were other separate incidents of breaching against the woman including being found in her apartment.
Amidst all this, and while out of a job and in what Morgan said was an attempt to fuel his cocaine addiction, he used his truck to commit a series of break-ins in the area in the summer of 2023.
One took place on George Street in Barrie, another at an apartment on Atherley Road in Orillia (no one was home at the time) and then again at another business on Sundial Drive, also in Orillia.
Police brought his property crime spree to an end with a “rolling block” stop on Highway 11 after the last incident in the wee hours of Aug. 17, 2023. Much of the loot was recovered at that time, or soon after.
Often slumped over in an orange prison-issued jumpsuit, 43-year-old Morgan watched the court proceedings by video link from a holding cell at Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene.
He has been in custody for several months after being picked up for the latest breach charge. When credited for pre-sentence time in custody and enhancements, Morgan has about 55 days left to serve.
Morgan told court that his life went into steep decline after he went through a divorce and developed a cocaine addiction. A university graduate, he worked in his field for some 15 years until his life imploded. Up to now, he had no criminal record.
“That is very unusual in these types of cases,” Justice Enno Meijers said of Morgan’s background and middle-aged descent into crime.
Court heard evidence that Morgan has been drug-free for about 10 months.
Morgan’s lawyer had asked for a sentence of between 10 and 12 months, while the Crown had sought 15 to 18 months.
“This was a crime spree due to drug addiction,” Morgan’s lawyer, Spencer Engel, said in his submissions.
