Violent attack lands man more jail time

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This article was published 11/04/2023 (1256 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who violently assaulted a woman last year, leaving her with three stitches on her lip and a fractured collarbone, will spend four more months behind bars.

Allan Bone, who is already serving time at Brandon Correctional Centre for a previous conviction, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm in court Thursday.

In March 2022, Bone was drinking at a home in Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation with three other people, including the victim, when he became violent. He dragged the woman by her hair and slapped her to the ground. The incident was unprovoked, and the beating was sustained over a length of time, Crown attorney Caroline Lacey told the court.

As a result of the attack, the woman received three stitches on her bottom lip and suffered a fracture to her clavicle bone.

Lacey, who described the incident as a “very bad assault,” said adding to the seriousness of the offence was the fact that the victim was an Indigenous woman, considered to be a vulnerable person by the criminal justice system.

“Denunciation and deterrence must be paramount and primary here, overriding other considerations,” the Crown attorney said.

However, prosecutors did give credit to Bone for accepting responsibility and pleading guilty to the charge.

Lacey asked the judge to keep Bone behind bars for another four to six months, with a probation term once released.

Bone, 30, has a limited history of violence that includes one prior entry on his criminal record for an assault and pointing a firearm in 2016. And according to his defence lawyer, Norman Sims, Bone has long struggled with alcohol use, which started in his late teens.

“He doesn’t like it. He has done some courses while in custody and he wants to attend [Alcoholics Anonymous],” Sims said.

The defence told the court that Bone has little recollection of the events that happened because of his alcohol consumption that day in March 2022.

Sims asked the judge for two to three months jail time, plus a probation term.

Bone, who appeared in court from Brandon Correctional Centre by video, declined to comment.

“It’s always disturbing to hear about what appears to be an attack on someone that’s unprovoked,” Judge John Combs said, noting that he had additional concerns about Bone’s capability to be violent when he’s drinking.

“That’s a huge concern because it could happen again at any time unless you sort out why it happened and deal with it in an effective way.”

Combs said in deciding a sentence for Bone, he had to consider the significant injury the victim suffered and Bone’s background, as well as denunciation for Bone’s behaviour.

Ultimately, the judge sentenced Bone to four months in jail, which will keep him behind bars much past his release date in May for the sentence he is currently serving.

Bone will also have to serve a probation term of two years and will be subject to a five-year firearms prohibition.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com