Photo: KTW File

A man with a decades-long rap sheet is facing up to a seven year prison sentence for breaking into two Kamloops homes in 2022.

Barry James Jack, 49, was in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday for sentencing on two counts of break and enter — one at a home on Fraser Street in June of 2022, and another in Lower Sahali about two weeks later.

Crown prosecutor Alexander Wheele told the court the Fraser Street homeowner returned from a three-day trip to find his bathroom window smashed in. Items were disturbed throughout the home and $3,110 in items were missing.

Mounties responded to the address, where they found a suspected crack pipe and a drop of blood in the bathroom near the smashed window, which testing later traced to Jack.

About two weeks later, security camera footage caught Jack in the middle of another burglary in Lower Sahali and he was arrested the next day on outstanding warrants. He was convicted for the second break and enter last year.

He was released to a treatment centre, but after a couple weeks Jack cut out the window screen of his room and escaped. A warrant went out for his arrest and he was detained in February of 2023.

After he was found guilty on the Lower Sahali break and enter, he was then released to another treatment centre in the Lower Mainland with an ankle monitor. He cut off the monitor and absconded not long after his arrival.

He remained at large throughout the summer, but he's been behind bars since his arrest in September. As of Thursday, Jack has already spent nearly 26 months in jail on the two charges combined.

Record goes back decades

Jack’s history of crime dates back to 1997. He has 74 convictions on his record, including 10 break and enters, assault of a police officer and assault with a weapon.

Wheele argued for a six-and-a-half to seven year sentence, citing the impact on Jack's victims, his lengthy rap sheet and his “lack of rehabilitative prospects” as factors.

“The sentences that he has been receiving, even four-year jail sentences, don't seem to have [had] a deterrent effect,” Wheel said.

Defence lawyer Jordan Watt asked the judge for a 55-month sentence, just under five years, to be followed by three years of probation.

Watt said Jack's family’s history in the Kamloops Indian Residential School, the death of his father and his guilty plea were mitigating factors. He also said Jack is now working towards his GED.

Jack began drinking alcohol at 13 and became addicted to drugs in his 20s, working sporadically while spending most of his adult life incarcerated. Court heard he has overdosed numerous times.

While he said Jack had become institutionalized, Watt submitted he was “at a crossroads” and there is “still hope.”

“There still needs to be a consideration as to his recovery, as to his rehabilitation, and when he's released from custody, ultimately his reintegration back into the community,” Watt said.

Jack told court his brother and sister recently died.

"I lost the ability to control my own life out there when I'm either drinking or using drugs. I had many experiences of knowing what I should do, but failing to do it. I put off important things, tasks, ignored people I cared about,” he said.

“I lost everything due to my own core choices and mistakes, but I would like to do better for my family.”

Jack is due back in court on April 28, when B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dennis Hori is expected to deliver his sentence.