A Kimmirut man serving a life sentence for the murder of a Nunavut RCMP officer can apply for early parole, a jury ruled on Wednesday.
Pingoatuk Kolola was sentenced in 2010 without the chance of parole for 25 years. So far, he has served 15 years for the murder of Const. Douglas Scott.
A two-and-a-half-day hearing was held in Kimmirut before a jury this week.
Kolola, who is in his 50s, was able to make his case to seek early parole by using the “faint hope clause” in the Criminal Code.
The clause was repealed by the former Harper government in 2011 and is not available to people serving sentences for crimes committed after Dec. 2, 2011.
The jury returned after roughly an hour of deliberations over whether Kolola should be eligible at all and how long he has to wait before he becomes eligible.
They ruled he should be eligible immediately.
The Crown told CBC News that they do not provide opinions …