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The hearing began in February and Pritchard returned Thursday with her findings.

Pelly clutched his head and fought back emotion throughout the judge’s decision, which left the man with 5½ years on top of remand time. That will be followed by 10 years on a long-term supervision order, which will allow for close monitoring of Pelly in the community.

“The evidence is unambiguously clear that Mr. Pelly will continue to be a threat to other persons unless he remains entirely free from all alcohol and drugs,” Pritchard said. “Since he was 10 or 11 years old, his life has been hijacked by these addictions. In my view, the sheer magnitude of all that Mr. Pelly must accomplish to effect meaningful and lasting change satisfies me beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a likelihood that he will continue to be a threat to the public in the future.”

Pritchard found the Crown had proven a pattern of repetitive violent behaviour on Pelly’s part and a so-far failure to control it, as well as significant risk of future violence. While treatment options have been made available to him in the past, court heard Pelly has not taken adequate advantage of them.

But, the judge added, some of Pelly’s struggles with programming could come down to problems he has grasping it.

Coming from a background of poverty, neglect, abandonment, abuse, and mental health issues, Pelly quit school after Grade 4. Pritchard referred to a lengthy questionnaire Pelly was provided that was to help address the possibility of ADHD. Pelly said it was too difficult for him to complete.