Monday, December 12, 2011

Friday, December 9, 2011

Dad of missing Toronto teen sentenced to 6 years for assaults

The Canadian Press
Thu Dec 8 20110


Police probe report missing daughter sighted earlier this week

TORONTO The father of missing Toronto teen Mariam Makhniashvili has been sentenced to six years for aggravated assault.

Vakhtang Makhniashvili, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to three counts of aggravated assault, will serve four years and 11 months after time served is taken into account.

The charges followed two separate stabbing incidents last year, one involving a neighbour and the other a couple who had posted his bail.

Mariam Makhniashvili vanished in September 2009 when she was 17, and the only clue ever found was her backpack.

Defence lawyer Calvin Barry says the court took into account that Vakhtang Makhniashvili was suffering from mental health issues following his daughter’s disappearance.

“He had a delusional disorder that explained away at least some of what happened,” Barry said outside court.

“Not enough for an acquittal or not guilty, but enough for some compassion on a rehabilitative ground, you know, ‘Forgive me God for I know not what I do’ type of scenario.”

Barry added that his client was prepared for the sentence.

“He knew that he had to pay the piper — that there had to be a sentence meted out.”

Meanwhile, a police spokeswoman says investigators are looking into a reported sighting of Mariam earlier this week in Toronto.

Const. Wendy Drummond says police are going through surveillance video but can’t confirm it was the missing teen.

Drummond says police are constantly getting tips in the case and encourage the public to report any possible sightings of Mariam.

The Canadian Press

http://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/article/636466--dad-of-missing-toronto-teen-sentenced-to-6-years-for-assaults

Calvin Barry Defends Vakhtang Makhniashvili

Mariam Makhniashvili’s father sentenced to 6 years for stabbingsPublished On Thu Dec 8 2011

Niamh Scallan
Staff Reporter

The father of missing teen Mariam Makhniashvili has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to stabbing three people last year.

With credit for time served, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, 51, will spend another four years and 11 months behind bars.

“This is a very sad case. (He) is living every person’s nightmare, the loss of a child,” Justice Rebecca Rutherford said during the sentencing Thursday morning.

“His inability to cope appears to have led to the serious attacks” last year against neighbour Sean Ure and David and Delores Langer, the couple who bailed him out of jail, she said.

But the “surprise” knife attacks inflicted serious injuries, both physical and emotional, and warranted a stiff sentence, she added.

Makhniashvili, a Georgian immigrant who studied music, sociology and philosophy, stood in the prisoner’s box, his head bowed, as Rutherford read her sentence.

The family first made headlines in September 2009 when his daughter Mariam, 17, disappeared outside Forest Hill Collegiate.

Her whereabouts are still unknown.

Det. Sgt. Dan Nealon, lead investigator in the case, said police are looking into a reported sighting in Toronto earlier this week, reviewing surveillance video from the area.

Noting there is no “concrete evidence” the person was Mariam, Nealon said police have been flooded by hundreds of tips and reported sightings.

In October, a court-ordered psychiatric assessment revealed that Makhniashvili’s violent outbursts were related to a delusional disorder and were likely triggered by stress brought on by his daughter’s disappearance.

After Mariam vanished, he “became consumed” with trying to find her, scouring missing person’s websites for traces of his daughter, Rutherford said.

The family isolated themselves from friends and family, and Makhniashvili developed paranoid delusions about people around him, the judge added.

Crown Attorney John Cisorio argued for a prison term of eight to 10 years given the level of violence and the premeditated nature of the crimes.

Defence lawyer Calvin Barry said his client was suffering a mental illness at the time of the crime and has shown remorse. He called for one year and two weeks plus three years probation, on top of the 11 months spent in custody.

Rutherford said she accepted Makhniashvili’s remorse as genuine and that he suffered from a mental disorder which played a role in the attacks last year. But, she said, the “planned, unprovoked” violence involved in the attacks in his victims’ homes had to be taken into account.

Makhniashvili also faces a lifetime ban on prohibited weapons.

Outside the courthouse, Delores Langer rolled up her sleeve to show a jagged scar running up her left arm. She said the injury from Makhniashvili’s attack left her left hand paralyzed, but added that she empathized with his family.

“I feel his pain, he’s a parent . . . it’s tragic,” she said. “But I don’t condone violence. I hope he gets the help that he needs.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1098995--missing-girl-s-father-sentenced-to-6-years-for-stabbings

Vakhtang Makhniashvili sentenced to 6 years for stabbings

Calvin Barry, Vakhtang Makhniashvili's lawyer, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.


ctvtoronto.ca


Date: Thursday Dec. 8, 2011 11:34 AM ET

Vakhtang Makhniashvili, whose daughter Mariam disappeared in 2009, will serve four years and 11 months in jail for three 2010 stabbings, a Toronto judge ruled Thursday.

Makhniashvili, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault last summer. While Justice Rebecca Rutherford sentenced him to six years in jail, that sentence was reduced due to time already served.

In May 2010, Makhniashvili stabbed a 26-year-old former neighbour after accusing him of being responsible for his daughter's disappearance.

In November 2010, he stabbed both David and Delores Langer, a couple who had come forward to help him post bail for the attack on the neighbour.

Makhniashvili later admitted to confronting the couple outside their Greenwood Avenue home and blaming them for a negative newspaper article about his family.

At a sentencing hearing in October, all three victims described extensive physical and emotional injuries resulting from the attacks. A psychiatric assessment presented to the court that day indicated Makhniashvili suffers from a delusional disorder.

"I would like to apologize to my victims. I didn't realize how much pain and trouble I've caused to society and my family," he told the court.

Mariam Makhniashvili vanished from her Toronto high school without a trace in September 2009. She was 17 at the time. Despite a national search, police have been unable to find her.

In November 2010, Mariam's brother Giorgi briefly ran away from home over a dispute with his father about playing the guitar. The teen's father had pushed him to focus on mathematics over music. Giorgi, who is now 18, turned up at a Vaughan police station about ten hours after his parents reported him missing.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111208/vakhtang-makhniashvili-assault-sentencing-111208/20111208?hub=TorontoNewHome

Click above link to view video of Calvin Barry

Father of missing teen Mariam Makhniashvili gets 6-year sentence

Mariam Makhniashvili was 17 years old when she went missing in September 2009
Photo courtesy of: Missing Children Society of Canada

Father of missing teen Mariam Makhniashvili gets 6-year sentence

680News staff
Dec 08, 2011

TORONTO, Ont. - Vakhtang Makhniashvili, the father of missing teen Mariam, has been sentenced to six years in jail, Thursday, after he pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault earlier this year.

He will serve four years and 11 months with a credit for pretrial custody.

"It's up to the judge, and they have to look at a lot of things - psychiatric reports, the breach of the bail, the horrible tragedy to the complainant," commented Makhniashvili's lawyer Calvin Barry.

"He had a delusional disorder that explained away at least some of what happened - not enough for an acquittal or not guilty, but enough for some compassion on a rehabilitative ground."

Earlier this year, Makhniashvili pleaded guilty to two separate stabbings, one of which involved a couple he blamed for a negative story on his daughter Mariam's disappearance in September of 2009.

Meanwhile, on the same day, police said they are looking into a reported sighting of Mariam earlier this week in Toronto.

Const. Wendy Drummond said police are going through surveillance video but can't confirm it was her.

"We've gone through hours and hours of video surveillance and tips that have come in," Drummond told 680News. "We continue to request the public to provide any information that they have, but unfortunately we have nothing that leads us in any one direction."

"There's nothing concrete to suggest it is Mariam."

The only clue ever found was the now 19 year old's backpack.

Barry said his client did not seem to know about the latest sighting tip.

http://www.680news.com/news/local/article/307983--father-of-missing-teen-mariam-makhniashvili-gets-6-year-sentence