Comox man who broke into former partner's home and assaulted her to serve full sentence: B.C. Court of Appeal
Warning: This story contains graphic details.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dismissed a man's appeal for a shorter sentence after he was convicted of breaking into a former partner's home and seriously assaulting her in early 2020.
On Dec. 28, 2019, Clinton Armstrong was arrested for slapping his common law spouse and pushing her in Comox, B.C.
At the time, Armstrong and the victim were living together but had agreed to separate.
After being arrested on Dec. 28, he was released on conditions intended to protect the victim.
However, while still under those conditions, Armstrong returned to the victim's home armed with a "boxcutter-type tool," broke a window and entered on Feb. 10, 2020.
He then attacked the victim, leaving her with more than a dozen injuries on her face and neck, as will as a dozen similar injuries on her torso.
She also suffered defensive wounds on her arms and hands, resulting in stitches to her right thumb and a 16-centimetre scar that is visible on her face, appeal judge Ronald Skolrood noted in his decision to dismiss Armstrong's appeal on Jan. 12.
The court heard that Armstrong had told the victim that he was going to kill her before she was able to escape to a neighbour's home.
Armstrong briefly chased her before returning to the victim's home and vandalizing her house and car, causing significant damage before he was arrested by police.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCING
In August 2021, Armstrong was convicted of several charges related to the attack, including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, breaking and entering and forcible confinement.
At a hearing in November 2021, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the aggravated assault and eight years in prison for the break-in, to be served concurrently.
Armstrong appealed the length of the sentences, saying that the seven years handed down for the aggravated assault fell outside of the normal range for that offence, and that the judge ignored some mitigating factors.
In his appeal decision, Skolrood wrote that while the general range for aggravated assaults is 16 months to six years, there's nothing stopping a judge from assigning a sentence that falls outside the usual range of an offence.
"The issue is whether the sentence is proportionate to the offence committed and the moral blameworthiness of the offender," said Skolrood.
"As noted, the judge considered all of the relevant circumstances, including mitigating and aggravating factors, and concluded that the assault of the complainant was a 'grave crime with a high degree of moral culpability,'" he wrote.
Armstrong also argued that the trial judge failed to properly consider several mitigating factors, including the fact that he did not contest all of the charges, that he did not have a history of violence with the victim prior to the attack, that he completed several rehabilitative programs after his arrest and that he showed remorse for the crime.
He also said that previous run-ins with the law that were considered by the trial judge were not relevant to the current case.
Armstrong has a reported history of alcohol and opioid abuse, and he was convicted of impaired driving two times, in 1990 and 1992. In 2004, a restraining order against him was granted to a former partner, and in 2005 he received a suspended sentence for assaulting another former partner.
Armstrong argued that the incidents happened decades ago and noted that he had no prior violent encounters with the victim in 2020.
However, the trial judge said that Armstrong's past presented a "high risk of violence in intimate partner relationships" and felt they were somewhat relevant to the case.
Skolrood ruled that the sentencing judge had adequately weighed all the factors and that they arrived at an appropriate sentence.
"Mr. Armstrong is effectively asking [the Court of Appeal] to engage in a process of reweighing those factors. That is not the role of this court, and does not accord with the standard of deference owed to sentencing judges," he wrote.
Armstrong's leave to appeal was granted by the B.C. Court of Appeal, but the appeal itself was ultimately dismissed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.