Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will get you five and a half years in jail.
Ontario’s Court of Appeal has reinforced the laws that protect women from harassment, after upholding a sentence of five and a half years.
According to the globe and mail, Patrick James Doherty, who sent harassing phone calls and letters to a women he had recently met, argued that because he did not physically assault the woman, he should receive a lesser sentence.
The court rejected his appeal and his reasoning.
Back in November 2011, Doherty met the woman through a classified ad online, where she was looking for a roommate. According to the courts, he called her repeatedly, showed up at her home, slipped notes under the door and threatened to have her killed.
Even after he was arrested last December, he wrote her two more letters, demanding she change her statements to the police.
Joanna Birenbaum, a Toronto Lawyer, said that this court decision means that women don’t have to be assaulted or killed before threats and stalking are taken seriously.
STORY WRITTEN BY: CATLIN SPENCER