BURST
A B.C. man who broke into a woman’s home and beat her with a baseball bat while her children hid nearby was awarded a reduced sentence last week because the judge was convinced the 25-year-old is “not now the person he was when he viciously and irrationally attacked” his victim.
Craig Brentton Durando was granted a conditional sentence of two years less a day for assault with a weapon, robbery and breaking and entering — offences to which he pleaded guilty last October — allowing him to serve his time in a provincial correctional facility.
The home invasion in Kelly Balatti’s home occurred in September 2023, but was precipitated by earlier events involving her son, Nicolas.
In August, he and another man named Nikolas Downey exchanged mutual insults and threats at a house party and continued their feud into September via TikTok and Snapchat.
“On September 4, Downey sent (Nicolas) Balatti a message saying ‘see you tonight’ with a kiss emoji,” wrote Madam Justice Jennifer M.I. Duncan of the Supreme Court of B.C. in her recently published decision.
That night, Durando and three other men drove from Kitimat to Terrace, where they mustered with Downey and arrived at the Balatti residence early in the morning with plans to confront and assault Nicolas Balatti.
Durando, who had been drinking and using cocaine beforehand, kicked in the door and entered the home with Downey and another man, while another stayed outside and the third waited in the car.
Downey and Durando searched for their target, but the latter first came across Kelly Balatti in bed. After taking her jewelry, he ordered her onto the floor, where he proceeded to beat her with the bat while demanding to know her son’s whereabouts.
When she attempted to answer, “he kicked her several times in the mouth” with such force that “her head hit the wall behind her.”
After using the bat to hit the walls and the television, he threatened to come back if she called or told anyone.
“He raised the bat above his head and asked her if she wanted to know his name. She said no. He lowered the bat and said, “good,’” Duncan wrote.
Unbeknownst to Durando was that the woman’s teenage son was also home and called the police while he hid in his closet, while an elementary-school-aged daughter hid in her room.
Durando and Downey fled out the back door when police arrived and were later arrested.
While he had previous convictions for uttering threats, mischief, weapons offences and personation and had served some time, Durando had “managed to stay out of trouble with the criminal justice system” for over two years before the violent home invasion and assault, though he was steadily unemployed and struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she suffers ongoing back pain from her injuries and remains traumatized.
“When she does close her eyes, she sees everything happening again,” the judge wrote.
It also compromised the home’s sense of security for her and her children, the youngest of whom “spends a lot of time away from home because she does not feel safe.”
The teen who called 911 filed his own statement and said his grades have suffered as he deals with trauma and fear that it will happen again.
As for Durando, the judge reported that he’s been thriving while awaiting the outcome of his legal proceedings.
After his arrest, Durando was released to a residential treatment centre as part of his bail conditions. He breached those by consuming marijuana, admitted to it and was back in custody by January 2024, only to be released to a new residential treatment centre that met “his needs or expectations” that May.
“He is now in second stage housing with New Visions and has been successful with avoiding any relapses,” the judge wrote.
She also noted that Durando has rebuilt a collapsed relationship with his family and secured a job as a diamond driller last July, a field which has ignited “an interest in jewellery making and hopes to take that up as a career.”
She said he is “clearly extremely remorseful” for his actions and “takes full responsibility.”
“He has done everything society could expect of someone in his position,” she wrote.
Duncan said Durando’s attack was “a heinous crime of violence” and without his mitigating factors, he would likely “be facing a sentence of five years, likely longer, despite his guilty plea.”
But she said his “substantial efforts at rehabilitation must be recognized and any sentence impose (sic) must not discourage him from continuing to abstain from drugs or leading a productive life.”
Durando, who received 9.5 months credit for the 190 days spent in pre-trial custody, will be on probation for three years after his release and is prohibited from any contact with the Balatti family and banned from the city of Terrace unless passing through.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.