A young man who admitted fatally stabbing his father during an argument last year was given a lenient sentence of seven years in prison on Thursday after the victim, a bully, hard-drinking bar owner, gave a harrowing account of the abuse that had been imposed on him were violent.
Posted at 4:58 p.m.
“This is a case that stands out from 99.9% of cases,” emphasized Crown prosecutor Me Claude Berlinguette-Auger, explaining the joint proposal of a seven-year prison sentence made with the defense in connection with the conviction of the Defendant agreed to manslaughter. In comparable cases, the sentences are usually between nine and twelve years in prison.
“We are dealing with a special situation,” admitted Judge Lyne Décarie of the Supreme Court.
The victim in this case, Ahmad Shoaib, owned Pub Shoby, an eatery in the Latin Quarter. As a father of five children, he immigrated to Canada from Pakistan with his family and achieved some business successes that ensured the clan’s financial stability.
However, in letters filed in court, the defendant’s siblings described their father as “a belligerent alcoholic who was constantly abusive to all family members, both verbally and physically.” In the years before his death, family members called 911 ten times because of his father’s aggressive behavior. The latter beat his wife and children.
Drunk and irritable
In the early morning of June 24, 2022, Ahmad Shoaib came home “drunk and irritable,” according to the summary filed in court. He began to be physically and verbally aggressive toward one of his sons. He threatened to cut off his supplies and even kill him.
Farhan Shoaib, then 21, intervened and defended his brother. The man’s anger then turned on him. He threatened to throw her out of the house, a possibility he often discussed.
Farhan Shoaib was the youngest child in the family. His brothers and sisters said in their letters filed in court that he particularly suffered from his father’s physical and verbal abuse.
The defendant was described as a quiet, shy young man who looked after stray cats in the alley and became increasingly withdrawn in his bedroom to avoid his father.
On the morning of the argument, his father, while belching in anger, retrieved a knife from his basement bedroom. “He had a knife because he was afraid of his father because of his warlike and aggressive behavior,” the written statement of facts states.
When Farhan Shoaib returned, his father was standing at the top of the stairs. He pushed his son. He responded by stabbing him three times in the stomach.
Ahmad Shoaib died in hospital a few hours later. Tests revealed a very high blood alcohol level and traces of ketamine, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
Family support
In a letter addressed to her son and submitted as evidence, the defendant’s mother and wife of the deceased described how she had already tried to leave her husband, who had already tried to strangle her. But she hadn’t been able to finish her approach. “In Pakistan there is no respect for a divorced girl,” she said in her letter.
She told her son to endure the years of imprisonment and then rebuild his life. “I want you to read good books when you can,” she said.
I love you and I will love you forever.
Extract from the defendant’s mother’s letter
“The extraordinary thing here is that all family members support the defendant,” emphasized his lawyer Me Eric Sutton.
Judge Lyne Décarie said she agreed with the suggestion of a seven-year prison sentence after reading the “very eloquent” letters from family members.
“I would like to wish you good luck and wish the family members good luck. I hope you can move on for the better from now on,” she said.
After deducting the time he spent in preventive detention, Farhan Shoaib has five years remaining in prison. If all goes well, he can apply for parole after serving a third of his sentence.