Teskey declared a dangerous offender
A man convicted of 34 crimes – the latest a savage beating that left a man unable to walk, talk or sit up – has been declared a dangerous offender.
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Provincial court Judge Brad Kerby called Leo Teskey's November 2000 attack on Dougald Miller the epitome of brutality, and ruled that Teskey should be behind bars indefinitely.
"I find that Mr. Teskey's treatability does not exist in the realm of pragmatic possibility," Kerby said.
In November 2000, Leo Teskey savagely beat Miller, then robbed his apartment and stole his car. Miller had found Teskey sleeping in the hallway of an apartment building he managed and had asked him to leave.
Teskey, 34, was convicted of aggravated assault for the attack.
"I'm so relieved," Miller's wife Leslie said. "So relieved to hear the judge say that he cannot be put into the public again.
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"I've been waiting for this for over four years. Even my husband had a big smile on his face when I told him what was happening."
Dougald Miller, 64, was in the courtroom for the decision, propped up in a wheelchair.
Reading from a prepared statement, Teskey said he was sorry for attacking Miller.
"Not a day has passed that I haven't thought long and hard about the ordeal the Millers are going through," he said. "Never in my life would I wish for this catastrophic end result to my worst enemy.
"I continue to pray daily for improvement in Mr. Miller's condition."
The Crown applied to have him declared a dangerous offender, which would allow for an indefinite sentence and additional conditions placed on any release. He can apply to the parole board after seven years.
During the dangerous offender hearing, the judge was told that Teskey is a psychopath with an antisocial personality disorder and is a high risk to reoffend. He has 34 convictions, including tearing the penis of a two year old and shooting a police officer.
Teskey's lawyer had argued that while Teskey is a psychopath, according a psychological profile, he could be treated effectively to "greatly reduce" his risk of reoffending.
This was the second time the Crown had tried to get a dangerous offender label for Teskey. Before the attack on Miller in 2000, the Crown had argued for the classification, but was turned down.
with files from Canadian Press