Robber who was shot during Porters Lake home invasion sentenced to prison

Two Dartmouth, N.S., men have been sentenced to prison for a violent home invasion at a home in Porters Lake three years ago in which one of them was shot by his victims.

Robert Moore was sentenced earlier this month tofive years in prison,and Matthew Simmsto four yearsand eight months, after each pleaded guilty to forcible confinement, robbery and wearing a mask in the commission of a crime.

Late on the evening of July 11, 2017, two masked men armed with shotguns forced their way into the home of Kyle Munroe, who was at home watching the Major League Baseball all-star game with his friend Brad Evans.

According to a statement of facts provided by the Crown, both Evans and Munroe were tied up and told to lie on the floor, Justice Josh Arnold of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court said in a written decision.

In his decision, Arnoldsaid Evans saw one of the intruders set down his weapon. Evans was able to free his hands and grab the gun.

In the ensuing struggle, Munroe was choked unconscious and punched in the nose. Evans was able to chase the intruders out of the house. Once outside, he fired several shots from the shotgun.

Munroe had also been able to free himself, got a .22 calibre rifle and fired about 19 shots at the intruders and their vehicle.

Tried to flee

The two robbers attempted to flee by backing out of the driveway in the pickup truck they'd arrived in. But they became stuck in the ditch and fled on foot.

About four hours after the home invasion, police found Simms at a neighbour's house. He'd showed up asking to use the phone to call a cab. The homeowners called police instead.

Police discovered Simms had two wounds: a shotgun blast to his hip and a bullet wound in his left shoulder. In weighing what sentence to give Simms, Arnold noted that the bullet could not be removed because it was too close to his spine and the shotgun blast left pellets embedded over a 10 -centimetre area of his hip. Defence counsel said Simms will "almost certainly" have to undergo hip replacement surgery at some point in the future.

Arnold gave Simms the lesser sentence because of the wounds he received.

The getaway vehicle was registered to Moore. DNA from a knife found in the truck belonged to the homeowner, Munroe.

Fourteen marijuana plants were found in the bed of Moore's truck. The Crown's brief said they had been taken from a grow operation Munroe had in his basement.