In R. v. Saboon (Ont CA, 2026) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal, this brought against a finding of first-degree murder "as a principal ... under s. 229(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code", and in "the alternative, ... guilty of murder on the basis that he was a participant in a common unlawful purpose pursuant to s. 21(2) of the Criminal Code".
Here the court considers 'forcible confinement' [CCC s.279(2)] as the underlying offence to a conviction for murder by "common unlawful purpose":
[43] The murder and the unlawful confinement were all part of a continuous sequence of events forming a single transaction. They were close in time and involved the ongoing domination of Mr. Yorke at gunpoint, first at gunpoint in his bedroom and then at gunpoint as he tackled Mr. Morrison against the railing at the top of the stairs. By the threat of their guns, the appellants unlawfully confined Mr. Yorke through violence, fear and intimidation, even if they did not succeed in physically restraining him: R. v. Sundman, 2022 SCC 31, [2022] 2 S.C.R. 368, at paras. 5, 22.
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