WESTLOCK – A Westlock-area man received a six-month jail sentence for a vicious assault that left his former girlfriend with scratches on her arm, bruised ribs and two black eyes.
In Westlock Court of Justice April 5, Clinton Douglas Holm, 41, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm with Justice Gordon Putnam agreeing to a joint-sentence submission from Crown prosecutor Anthony Estephan and defence lawyer David Keyes on a 180-day jail sentence, which was deemed served by 120 “actual days” he previously spent in custody and credited at one-to-one-and-a-half.
Holm, who Keyes noted is a recovering methamphetamine addict but has been clean since June 2022, also faces 18 months of probation, which includes a host of conditions, and was banned from owning weapons for five years — Keyes had argued that the weapons ban wasn’t necessary, while Estpehan noted Holm had received a five-year weapons ban in 2011 and then a 10-year ban in 2016.
“It’s a step up from your previous custodial sentence of 90 days, so it does deal with deterrence and denunciation and the probation will help you with treatment, which I understand will be beneficial to you,” said Justice Putnam, who waived the victim-fine surcharge as Holm is currently unemployed. “Intimate-partner violence is something that is a societal problem that we’re trying to deal with and there were substantial injuries and the number of strikes are also a concern to the court.”
Estephan said that Holm has a “recent and related criminal record” and pointed to a 90-day jail sentence he got for an assault in September 2017. He also noted that “the gravity of the offence was quite serious” and his “moral blameworthiness was quite high” so 180 days was “fit and proper” and “a significant step up.”
“This is an incident of intimate-partner violence, which is extremely concerning,” said Estephan. “But from the Crown’s perspective there is still a component of rehabilitation here that is important because we want to prevent Mr. Holm from coming before the court again and committing similar offences.”
Keyes, who noted Holm’s mother was in the gallery and has been helping her son get back on the right track as he’s addressing some “mental health issues”, said there were more than just the two in the room the night of the assault and “tensions were high, things were getting hostile and it became violent.”
“He’s remorseful for what happened and was in a bad place at that point in his life,” said Keyes. “As I said, there were some triable issues to get to the bottom of what really happened. But my client has owned up to the fact that the blows he delivered while she was on the ground was not a measured way to use force against her.”
The crime
Estephan told court that in the morning of May 12, 2022, Holm was at a residence of a woman he had been dating for two weeks and had just returned from being away for two days with his ex-girlfriend.
An argument ensued between Holm and the victim and he hit her “in the face and head with his hand and took her to the ground.”
“The woman then produced a knife to defend herself and Holm began kicking her in the back, ribs and heads. He kicked her around 10 to 20 times,” said Estephan.
Following the assault, the woman was left with scratch marks on her right arm, bruising on her right rib cage and two black eyes.
“The injuries that were sustained here are numerous and we’re dealing with multiple bruises as multiple strikes were landed,” said Estephan.
