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Prison-bound Christopher Snow apologizes for drug-fuelled home invasions

Prison-bound Christopher Snow apologizes for drug-fuelled home invasions

Christopher Snow, a man who terrorized a neighbourhood in the west end of St. John's last September during what he admitted what a drug-fed rage, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.

The sentence is less the time that Snow, 26, has already served, bringing his sentence to just under seven years.

Victim impact statements read into the court provided powerful commentary leading into the sentence, and shed details on a series of crimes that rocked St. John's last fall.

On two separate occasions, Snow took people from their homes in the middle of the night and ordered them to go with him to an automated teller machine.

One woman said her family had to sleep in a room together for a month because they were scared after Snow broke in to their home.

That woman forgave Snow and told the court she hopes he recovers from his drug addiction.

Snow faced more than 30 charges including break and enter, assault with a weapon, disguise with intent, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, pointing a firearm, possessing property obtained by crime and breaches of court orders.

Judge Mark Linehan said the charges against Snow were some of the most disturbing he had ever seen.

A pre-sentence report points out Snow's drug problems, adding that Snow was on the methadone program but returned to using "hard drugs."

Since Snow was arrested in late September, he has participated in rehabilitation programs at Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

In a letter of apology to his victims, Snow said he was under the influence of drugs and wouldn't have committed the crimes otherwise.

Snow turned to drugs, he said, after his father was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The charges stem from incidents that happened in September in the neighbourhood of Alderberry Lane and Blackmarsh Road.