Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 24, 2007

HAY RIVER - A former member of the Hay River RCMP detachment, who has been on leave without pay since last fall, has been found guilty of assault.

Const. Bradley "Dino" Carpenter was convicted of what the judge called a "very minimal assault" against his former common-law partner. - NNSL file photo

Const. Bradley "Dino" Carpenter was convicted of what the judge called a "very minimal assault" against a woman Jan. 26 of this year.

The charge did not involve any role he has as a member of the RCMP.

At the end of a half-day trial in Hay River Territorial Court on Sept. 20, Judge Anne Brown handed Carpenter a conditional discharge and placed him on probation for a year. Brown noted the incident was completely out of character for Carpenter.

A conditional discharge means Carpenter will have no criminal record as a result of the conviction.

How the conviction will affect his status with the RCMP remains to be seen.

His lawyer James Brydon noted Carpenter will face a disciplinary hearing by the RCMP as a result.

The woman told the court the assault happened in her bedroom after she rejected Carpenter's amorous advances.

Both testified the incident had erupted when Carpenter was leaving the bedroom and startled the woman's dog sleeping in a corner and kicked it as it advanced toward him.

She testified he shoved her back onto a bed as she tried to get up.

On cross-examination, the woman testified Carpenter didn't push her hard, just with one hand on one shoulder.

"It wasn't a good push," she testified.

Testifying in his own defence, Carpenter said he had put up his hand up to protect himself as the woman was coming towards him and yelling at him to leave the bedroom.

"She was charging at me on the bed," he said.

Prior to the incident, Carpenter said he had seven or eight beers that evening before going home at about 2:30 a.m.

Carpenter, a 32-year-old originally from Sachs Harbour, is currently living in Edmonton where he has started a construction company.