Photo: Colin Dacre

A South Okanagan man with a lengthy criminal record will spend 30 days in jail after a dispute over shoes with an ex-girlfriend in Osoyoos. 

Sahand Sobhani, 41, used a large rock to smash the driver-side window of a courtesy vehicle his ex-girlfriend was driving on Aug. 17, according to a police report.

RCMP responded to the incident near the Osoyoos Airport at 8 p.m. that night, and found Sobhani nearby where he was then arrested.

Sobhani was handed three charges as a result, and he pleaded guilty to mischief under $5,000 in Penticton court on Thursday.

Defence lawyer Michael Welsh said his client claimed, upon arranging to meet his ex-girlfriend, he noticed a pair of his shoes in the back seat and wanted them back.

The pair got into an argument after she refused to give Sobhani his shoes, which led to his temper overcoming him, Welsh said, and him smashing the car window.

Welsh also said his client claimed that, before smashing the glass, his ex-girlfriend rolled up the window and pinned his arm stuck, before she drove away and dragged him for a short distance.

It was an unfortunate incident where they both behaved rather badly and (Sobhani) caused damage to this vehicle," Welsh said.

Prosecutor Kurt Froehlich requested a sentence between 14 and 30 days for his conviction, urging the upper-end. Welsh agreed with the Crown's sentencing request, but urged it should be on the lower-end of that range.

Judge Robin Smith decided on a 30-day sentence for Sobhani, pointing to a "seven-and-a-half page criminal record that just doesn't stop" as an aggravating factor.

Sobhani's criminal record dates back 20 years and includes convictions of assault, fraud, criminal harassment and many others.

"It's pretty aggravating when you have a record like that, in fact it's downright disgusting," Smith said to Sobhani.

"You can do better than this. You have to, you must want to... I'm counting on you to do better in the future."

Sobhani is currently in custody for a conviction on an unrelated matter, and he will begin serving his sentence handed down on Wednesday when his current one ends.