Domestic abuser Ali Butt who vowed to rape, kill and dismember his lover shouldn’t be declared a dangerous offender, his lawyer argued Wednesday.
Butt made disturbing texts while he and his ex-lover were engaged in a heated exchange in which the woman boasted she “had enough evidence to go to the police,” said Butt’s lawyer, Michelle Johal, in closing arguments at her client’s dangerous offender hearing.
“He was saying to her to add this to your proofs so you’ll be set for life and he signed it off with a smiling emojii,” said Johal. The victim — whose identity is covered by a publication ban — also urged Butt to have sex with his mother in their 2016 text exchange.
Johal argued Butt, 30, is controllable and implored Justice Maureen Forestell to dismiss the dangerous offender bid. Johal asked the court to impose a five-year supervison order, instead.
Johal and Crown attorney Julie Battersby agree Butt should receive a two-year prison sentence on top of almost five-years of pre-trial custody.
Butt pleaded guilty on Sept. 6, 2017 to criminal harassment.
Battersby is seeking a dangerous offender designation and a 10-year supervision order against Butt, saying he “has manipulated and dominated this woman” during their lengthy relationship.
Two psychiatrists rated Butt as being a high risk to re-offend against an intimate partner, said Battersby.
The victim forgave Butt for his domestic violence in April 2011 when he stabbed her in the thigh with a large knife at a Scarborough hotel.
She underwent emergency surgery. He was sentenced in January 2012 to the equivalent of 18 months in jail for aggravated assault.
When Butt was freed from prison in 2012, the couple reunited, but she soon asked him to leave her alone. Butt complied briefly but then threatened to expose their relationship to her family via social media and inflict violence against her if she saw another man.
Forestell will deliver her judgment on May 6.
spazzano@postmedia.com
