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Prison for spousal assault Victim who suffered broken arm and leg sobs as offender sentenced to three years
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 18, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
"Can I give him a hug?" asked the spouse of the man who broke her arm and leg in an aggravated assault last May.
The 44-year-old man was escorted from territorial court Friday afternoon to serve a three-year prison sentence for the attack. He waved to his spouse as an RCMP officer led him away and told him he would not be able to hug her.
On the night of May 8, the man, who will not be named to protect the identity of the victim, grabbed his spouse's leg while she slept in their bed in Ndilo. He twisted it until her fibula and tibia bones broke. His attack continued, breaking her left forearm and bruising her legs and jaw. It's not clear what his motivations were.
The victim, who was intoxicated at the time of the attack, awoke the next morning in severe pain. She was unable to stand or walk. She begged her spouse to call an ambulance. He didn't want to call an ambulance because he didn't want to go to jail.
The woman finally convinced him to call an ambulance after she agreed to tell paramedics her injuries didn't occur in his presence.
"He was willing to let her lie there on his bed for several house crying for an ambulance rather than get caught," Crown prosecutor Jackie Porter said at his sentencing.
Swivelling on his chair backwards to spot his spouse in the gallery, the man seemed indifferent to the prosecution's submissions. His spouse sobbed during the proceedings.
Lyda Fuller, executive director of YWCA Yellowknife, deals with women who are in abusive relationships regularly. She expressed displeasure when told of the incident, but said it's not uncommon for victims to stay attached to their abusive spouses.
"As much as there's horrible stuff, there's also good times and shared memories ... things in common, history, children and family connections," Fuller said.
"It's hard to extricate yourself emotionally from those relationships."
Fuller said there's options available to women in abusive relationships, such as counselling and support groups. The YWCA also offers an emergency family violence shelter.
But Fuller says the impetus for change needs to come from the abusive person in the relationship.
Defence lawyer Serge Petipas said his client suffered abuse in his childhood and struggles with alcohol addiction. He urged deputy judge Brian Bruser to exercise some "restraint" in his sentencing, owing to his client's aboriginal status.
The man, who has 22 criminal convictions, including 11 for violent offences, chose not to speak when the deputy judge asked him. He has been convicted of spousal abuse before.
Bruser, who found the man guilty after trial by judge alone, didn't see much of a reason to give him a lighter sentence.
"I do not detect a particle of remorse here," Bruser said as he stared at the offender.
The deputy judge said the man needs to be in custody, adding he has no hope of rehabilitation in the near future.
"To assist him in his rehabilitation is almost a waste of resources today," Bruser said.
The man will be in prison for three years, less the 122 days of pre-trial custody he already served.
Bruser said if it wasn't for the man's aboriginal status and harsh upbringing, he would have put him behind bars for four years.
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