The man who burned down the historic Empress Hotel on Yonge St. was institutionalized from the age of 7, abusing alcohol by age 10 and sexually assaulted throughout his youth by mental hospital staff and his own father.
"If this were a novel it would be a tragedy," Crown prosecutor Mike Callaghan said at Stewart Poirier's sentencing hearing Friday, urging that the mentally disturbed male prostitute be given a 12-year penitentiary sentence.
The public must be protected from a very dangerous man, Callaghan told provincial court Justice Rebecca Rutherford. "Mr. Poirier has a long history of threatening and violent behaviour. I have grave concerns for the community."
Details emerged about the 53-year-old homeless man at his sentencing hearing for attempted murder, uttering death threats and arson. It revealed a mentally handicapped substance abuser with a love of hurting people.
"Mr. Poirier's rehabilitative prospects are grim," Callaghan said.
Wearing glasses, the long-haired, toothless prisoner appeared occasionally agitated.
Psychiatrists diagnosed Poirier - who often sleeps outdoors near city hall or in the Don Valley ravine - as having virtually the "brain of a boy," a personality disorder, sado-masochism and pyromania.
"His life has never been close to normal," said his lawyer, Dana Garrick, calling for a 10-year sentence.
The Empress Hotel fire, early on Jan. 3, 2011, destroyed the 124-year-old heritage building on Yonge St., a block north of Dundas St.
Poirier poured gasoline on the third-storey floor and used a lighter to ignite it. It took 125 firefighters to extinguish the six-alarm blaze.
One of the two firefighters injured in the blaze, Neil Brown, said in a victim impact statement he is still feeling the emotional effects.
Twice Poirier set fire to his Sackville St. apartment. He disabled fire alarms and watched the blaze from a safe distance.
He also admitted to destroying, on July 10, 2012, a $40,000 city-owned wood chipper on Unwin Ave. used by the forestry department.
In March, Poirier threatened to kill his probation officer and the officer's wife and child.
Rutherford reserved sentencing until Dec. 14.
Copyright 2012 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
