Five-year sentence cut in half for armed carjacker because pre-trial custody was ‘harsh and demeaning’

Toronto South Detention Centre in 2019. Photo by Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia

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A judge defended the one-day sentence he handed a carjacker who stole a Toronto driver’s Mercedes at gunpoint, blaming the man’s jailers for failing the community.

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Jaiden Robinson, who spent 809 days (two years and 79 days) in pre-trial custody, pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to robbery with a prohibited weapon for a March 2024, mid-afternoon carjacking at the Shops at Don Mills. Both the Crown and Robinson’s lawyer recommended he get the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.

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“Some decry what they call the court’s catch-and-release approach to criminal justice,” Justice André Chamberlain wrote in a recent decision where he ruled that Robinson would have to spend just one more day in prison.

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“If they truly believe that incarceration is the answer to our criminal justice problems, they should admit that the correctional institution’s neglectful approach to inmate care has led to shorter sentences, less time in custody, and lower rates of incarceration, even for serious offenders in some cases. The jails are the ones failing the community, the inmates, and the justice system.”

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Despite repeated attempts from the courts and requests from Robinson, he didn’t get medical or dental treatment behind bars for an ankle injury or a broken tooth he suffered during his arrest, the judge said in his June 9 decision.

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The court heard that Farzin Shahid-Noorai parked his 2023 Mercedes-Benz S580 at the Shops at Don Mills on March 15, 2024, at 3:45 p.m.

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“Jaiden Robinson then emerged from behind the vehicle, wearing a black hoodie and balaclava, confronted Mr. Shahid-Noorai, and demanded the keys. Mr. Robinson, holding a firearm in his right hand, took the keys by reaching into Mr. Shahid-Noorai’s pocket, entered the Mercedes, and drove off,” said the decision.

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“A bystander, Jack Dagleish, in his own vehicle, tried to block Mr. Robinson, who accelerated, struck Mr. Dagleish’s vehicle, and collided with a pole before fleeing. Police tracked the GPS-enabled Mercedes” to an address about nine kilometres away.

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Police arrived around 4 p.m. and spotted Robinson by the luxury car’s trunk.

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After a foot chase, they arrested him with a semi-automatic handgun that had a round in the chamber.

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Robinson, 31, is a Black and Indigenous man.

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“During his time at the Toronto South Detention Centre (the South), the Indigenous Unit was eliminated. In September 2025, correctional officers removed and disposed of the artwork, teachings and prayers that were in the former Indigenous range,” Chamberlain said.

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“The position of Native Inmate Liaison Officer (NILO) has been and remains vacant, denying Indigenous inmates access to consistent Indigenous support services in the institution.”

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Robinson is a “Status First Nations adult with maternal ties to the Carry the Kettle Nakota First Nation,” said the decision.

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“His personal history reflects the enduring and well-documented impacts of intergenerational trauma arising from the legacy of residential schools and the colonial policies instituted by successive past governments, resulting in a cultural genocide. His maternal grandmother attended the Lebret Industrial School, and the resulting disruptions have contributed to a loss of cultural identity, fractured parenting models, and exposure to substance use and trauma within the family system.”