Cortney Lake's ex-boyfriend Philip Smith released from jail
Smith, 25, was in prison for breaching orders - including one to stay away from Lake
Philip Steven Smith walked out of Her Majesty's Penitentiary a little over a week before his sentence for breaching court orders – including one to stay away from Cortney Lake – was up.
Smith, 25, had been in custody since his June 27 arrest for breaching several orders. He pleaded guilty to those breaches Aug. 9, admitting he picked Lake up in Mount Pearl the day she was last seen.
Police deemed her June 7 disappearance a homicide, though her body has not been found and no one has been charged.
Lake's family declined to comment on Smith's release, but, Glenda Power, Lake's aunt, posted a statement about it on Facebook.
"It is certainly frustrating to see that the justice system will not allow a full sentence, which the judge already noted was lenient, to be imposed on this individual who [pleaded] guilty to assaulting Cortney and to picking her up the evening she went missing," she wrote.
"In my view, there should be zero reduction in sentencing for men who commit these types of crimes."
In my view, there should be zero reduction in sentencing for men who commit these types of crimes.- Glenda Power
"All that being said, Smith has satisfied the requirements of the justice system with regard to the charges for breaches of court orders to stay away from Cortney," Power stated.
Smith had been ordered to stay away from the 24-year-old mother for months: convicted of assaulting her in April, distributing intimate images of her in May and failing to stay away from her on June 5 when he called her 33 times and showed up at her family's home in Mount Pearl.
He was arrested that day and released two days later — the day Lake disappeared — under the condition to stay away from her.
In court on Aug. 9, the judge said Smith had "a callous disregard for court orders" and would have given Smith a longer sentence, but was bound by the 90-day sentence agreed upon between the Crown and defence. With credit for time served, he had 24 days left to serve.
Smith was released Aug. 24 – 16 days later – for good behaviour, following a standard formula in the criminal justice system. Smith is under a one year driving prohibition, but there are no other conditions of his release.
He could not be reached for comment.
Lake's family and supporters have been conducting exhaustive searches for the young woman's body over the 12 weeks since she was last seen.
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