Ontario robber who hit 10 banks declared dangerous offender

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A serial bank robber who once threatened to cut off a teller’s hand has been declared a dangerous offender by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.

Jason Buick’s most recent bank robbery took place at the start of the pandemic after he lost his job in a doughnut shop and went on a cocaine binge. Buick, 55, has been behind bars since March 26, 2020, when he and an accomplice robbed a Toronto Scotiabank on Queen Street East.

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“When I consider all the circumstances, I cannot conclude that even a very lengthy penitentiary sentence followed by the maximum period of (a long-term supervision order) will be sufficient to manage the risk of violent re-offence Mr. Buick poses,” Justice Gillian E. Roberts wrote in a recent decision.

“While there is positive evidence about Mr. Buick, such as his strong work ethic, his discovery of work in a bakery that he enjoys, his cooperative attitude throughout these proceedings, and his advancing age, these circumstances are not sufficient to ground a reasonable expectation that a sentence less than an indeterminate sentence can manage the risk he poses of violently re-offending. I deeply hope, for Mr. Buick’s sake, that his risk can eventually be managed in the community. But at this time, on this record, this is only a hope. A hope I must leave to the parole board to determine if and when it crystalizes into a reasonable expectation.”

The judge declared Buick a dangerous offender and imposed “an indeterminate sentence” on the man first sentenced to a penitentiary in 1990, when he was 20 years old.

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“In broad strokes, Mr. Buick’s offending focuses on obtaining money, through fraudulent means, including stealing and using false cheques, and through violent means, including repeated bank robberies,” Roberts said in her written decision dated March 12.

“The violence involved in the bank robberies has been primarily psychological, rather than physical, including threats involving knives and firearms, or apparent firearms, often to a teller or hostage in order to enforce a command.”

During a bank robbery in 2007, for example, after instructing a teller to put cash in a bag at knife point, Buick said: “Do you want your f–king hand cut off? Can you go any slower?”

He’s also been physically violent, said the judge. “For example, during (a January 2008 bank) robbery Mr. Buick entered a TD Canada Trust in Hamilton (the same branch he robbed on Dec. 21, 2007) and punched a security guard in the face. The guard punched Mr. Buick back, and a meat cleaver fell from Mr. Buick along with a plastic bag, and Mr. Buick fled, aborting the robbery. Including the index offence, Mr. Buick has been convicted of 10 bank robberies.”

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After Buick pleaded guilty in January 2023 to committing his most recent bank robbery with a firearm and dangerous driving, the Crown applied to have him declared a dangerous offender.

“Defence counsel argued that a determinate sentence of at least 10 years, followed by a 10-year (long-term supervision order) would be adequate to control the risk he poses and protect the public,” said the judge. “The Crown argued that nothing short of an indeterminate sentence would be adequate to protect the public.”

Roberts sided with the Crown.

“At this time, based on the evidence before me, there is not a reasonable expectation that even the very lengthy sentence proposed by defence counsel will adequately protect the public from the risk of violent re-offence posed by Mr. Buick,” she said.

Dr. Scott Woodside, a forensic psychiatrist, produced an assessment report on Buick in November 2023.

“Dr. Woodside noted that Mr. Buick estimated that he might have been out of jail a total of five years since the age of 18. Mr. Buick has never successfully completed a period of statutory release without re-offending,” said the judge. “His longest period without new charges was during his most recent release between December 11, 2018, and the index offence on March 26, 2020.”

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When Woodside asked him about the source of his difficulties, Buick stated: “I think there is some sort of self-destructive behaviour…. I do well at something and then I get arrested … or I’m in a relationship and it’s going well and then I end it.”

Buick acknowledged difficulty adjusting to a “straight” lifestyle, according to Woodside, and was once told by another forensic psychiatrist that he was a “thrill seeker.”

Woodside determined that Buick has an antisocial personality disorder with significant psychopathic traits, and a cocaine use disorder.

The psychiatrist “concluded that Mr. Buick was ‘well-above average risk for violent recidivism.’”

Woodside told the court that violent offenders tend to “burn out” after the age of 40 to 45, but “this appears to be non-specific in nature and may be possibly related to biological variables such as decreased testosterone, decreased physical prowess and development of various medical conditions (including high blood pressure and liver disease).”

The psychiatrist “was cautious about relying on the burn-out theory on its own in this case, as the index offence occurred when Mr. Buick was in his 50s, thus Mr. Buick does not appear to be ‘following the expected trend towards a general decrease in violent offending observed in those age 40 and older,” said the judge, who accepted the psychiatrist’s evidence.

At this point, Roberts said, “I believe the parole board is better suited to assess the specific effect of aging on reducing the risk of violent re-offence posed by Mr. Buick.”

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