Convicted London murderer gets 12 years for ‘savage’ knife assault

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The question facing the judge was how to sentence convicted murderer and parole violator Michael Post for stabbing a man “brutally in the chest with a large knife.”

Ontario Court Justice Brian White’s answer? Send a strong message to Post and the public that the courts won’t tolerate repeat violence.

“For a person serving a life sentence who is now a repeat parole violator, who has now stabbed a third person with noted catastrophic consequences for the victim, the message must be stated in the strongest possible terms,” White said Tuesday.

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Factoring in everything, including Post’s attempts to change course and the poor conditions at the local jail, the 50-year-old repeat offender was sentenced to 12 years in prison for aggravated assault, just shy of the Crown’s request for the maximum 14-year term.

“This sentence clearly communicates to Mr. Post and to others on parole in the community that further violence offending will result in substantial prison sentences,” White said. “Our community demands and deserves no less.”

Post had been on parole after his June 2000 conviction for second-degree murder in the January 1999 stabbing death of Michael Goldie-Ryder, 20, a popular Regina Mundi grad who’d stepped in to help another man Post stabbed in the chest during a dispute over taxi use near York and Richmond streets.

Post was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 11 years in that case. He also was convicted of aggravated assault of his initial target and sentenced to eight years.

Goldie-Ryder’s death sparked community concerns over downtown violence and calls for surveillance cameras in the core, which are now fixtures in assisting police in investigations.

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Post had mostly kept his nose clean until Sept. 22, 2022, when he stabbed Zaya Ballo, 37, in the lobby of a McNay Street apartment after the pair had sparred for two hours by cellphone text messages over a $120 marijuana debt. Post was convicted of aggravated assault at trial last year.

White had rejected Post’s contention he was acting in self-defence when Ballo showed up at the building carrying a stick and was met by Post, armed with a knife, near the main-floor elevator. Post stabbed Ballo once in the chest, hitting his stomach, liver and heart in two places.

Ballo was rushed to hospital after witnesses called 911. He lost vital signs several times, went into cardiac arrest, needed emergency surgery and, ultimately, suffered life-changing injuries that left him bed-bound in long-term care, unable to move or communicate and requiring round-the-clock care.

White acknowledged victim impact statements filed by Ballo’s family, and admitted it was “impossible” for any sentence to “reflect the impact of this offence has had and continues to have on Mr. Ballo’s life.”

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Post had not committed any violent crime since he was paroled in April 2009, though he was convicted in 2019 of violating his lifetime weapons ban after being caught with two knives and a set of brass knuckles a year before.

White noted, however, that Post had been employed, was making substantial efforts to reconnect with his children and had enrolled in courses while in custody.

While those factors were in Post’s favour, that didn’t make up for “the significant cognitive and psychological trauma suffered by Mr. Ballo,” the judge said, saying the defence’s proposed six-year prison term was far too light.

White pointed to the text exchange, in which it was clear Post chose to arm himself with a knife and “was ready to fight.”

But the Crown’s sentencing submission didn’t take into account any mitigating factor or “the circumstances of this offence with particular focus on the roles taken by both Mr. Ballo and Mr. Post during a violent confrontation on Sept. 18, 2022,” White said.

Ultimately, it was Post’s actions, even while on parole, that were played out in a public space and led to the horrific aftermath for Ballo.

“Stabbing Mr. Ballo was savage and committed with a callous disregard for human life,” White said.

jsims@postmedia.com

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