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BARRHEAD - The next time, he might not be as lucky.
That is what Justice Jeffery Champion told a Swan Hills man after sentencing him to a two-month conditional sentence order (CSO) and 24 months of probation for assault and assault with a weapon at Barrhead Court of Justice on Nov. 15.
The man, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of his wife, received the sentence as part of a joint submission from the Crown and defence after pleading guilty to the charges which were laid in connection with a domestic dispute in July.
For the first month of the CSO, the man will be essentially under 24-hour-a-day house arrest, with a few notable exceptions, such as going to work.
Other conditions include keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, attending court when required to do so, not leaving the province without the permission of the court supervisor, living in court-approved residence, abstaining from possessing or consuming alcohol or any controlled drugs, or other intoxicating substances. Attend assessment, counselling or treatment as directed by his parole supervisor and concerning anger management, psychiatric and psychological treatment.
The man also must not attend any known places that his wife frequents, such as her residence, work, church, or place of education, except with the written permission of his wife. He is also prohibited from owning any weapons defined under Section 2 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
For the second month, the man must abide by a curfew and is required to be at his residence between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The conditions of the second month of the CSO and his probation closely mirror those above.
The facts
Crown prosecutor Taylor Noble said On July 21, 2023, Swan Hills RCMP attended the man's residence, responding to a complaint of domestic violence.
She said that RCMP, the complainant, the man's wife, told dispatchers that he had thrown a vacuum cleaner at her and that it had hit her somewhere on her upper body.
Nobel noted that after the man threw the vacuum at her, she called a nearby friend and went outside to wait for them while the man remained inside.
Noble said her friend and her adult son arrived shortly after, adding that the wife's friend attempted to comfort her while the son tried to enter the residence.
She added that as the son opened the door, the man slammed the door on his hand.
"When RCMP arrived, they could see the visible damage to the son's right hand and stomach for being shoved out the door. And the man 's wife was crying after being hit by the vacuum cleaner," Noble said.
She added that by time, the man had locked all the doors and windows of the residence and had proceeded to destroy his wife's property.
"Police, when they went around to the back, could see through a window that (the man) had a serrated knife," she said, adding that about 15 minutes later, the RCMP had persuaded him to surrender.
Duty counsel Gail Gerhart noted her client is 38 years old, is employed as a swamper, and that he and his wife had been together for 17 years and had no children.
She also noted that he had a six-conviction criminal record.
“Looking at your record, it looks like you have a bit of an anger problem that you tend to resolve with force and has gotten you into trouble,” Champion said, adding that he has been somewhat fortunate so far. “You are at the last step of the process before you go to jail for some time. You have a record where you could have already gone to jail for these offences. I hope you realize that … and I hope you can get some help and resolve some of your issues.”
