ATHABASCA – A Calling Lake man received a 65-day jail stay after pleaded guilty to, among other things, attempting to scratch and claw at the eyes of a man he said was hitting his elderly mother.
In Athabasca Court of Justice June 26, Gregory Curtis Gambler, 50, pleaded guilty to a probation breach, as well as assault, and mischief damage under $5,000. Gambler, who appeared from the Edmonton Remand Centre via CCTV and was represented by duty counsel Agnes Ameh, received 30 days custody for the assault, five days for the mischief, and another 30 days for the breach — with 24 days of pre-trial time, he has 36 days left to serve.
Justice Jordan Stuffco accepted the joint-sentence recommendation from Crown prosecutor Anthony Estepha and Ameh, although he did drop the request for additional probation — Gambler still had over a year remaining on a prior court order that outlined similar conditions to those asked for by Estephan.
“What I’m thinking, just from the court’s birds eye view, if I go along with the Crown’s 65-day sentence, especially when you apply Gladue (Report factors), that really is a strong deterrent. Tacking on more probation probably doesn’t address anything, because he’s still under an existing order for a year,” said the Justice. “You’re 50 years old, you’re very well spoken, you’re a smart man. You deserve the right to return to your community, but you just need to make sure that you report to your probation officer, hopefully get some counselling, and try to stay off the booze.”
Gambler, who said that he had been drinking at the time of the incident, said that he’s a different person when he’s sober, and that he “ … knew his rights from wrongs, and took care of himself.”
The facts
Estephan told court that on Jan.1, 2023, Athabasca RCMP received a call stating that Gambler had gone to another man’s house in Calling Lake and assaulted him, breaking windows along the way.
When police arrived, the victim told them that Gambler had come to the home, hit him in the face multiple times, tried to claw at his eyes, and pushed him into a doorjamb. After the assault, Gambler then threw items through all of the front windows of the residence.
