Man sentenced to 11 months in jail for assaulting partner

A Sioux Valley man who assaulted his partner — and has several convictions for assaulting her in the past — was sentenced to 11 months in jail on Monday.

“When little boys grow up in a home where Dad hits Mom, those little boys are more likely to grow up and someday assault their partner … and you’re living proof of that,” Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta told Isaiah Blacksmith, 28, in Brandon provincial court before delivering her sentence.

Blacksmith pleaded guilty to the charges of assault causing bodily harm and not complying with a no-contact condition on his probation order.

He was “grossly impaired” on May 8 when he violated his probation order by contacting and assaulting the victim, with whom he shares two children, the court heard.

“This wasn’t a minor assault. He was dragging her by the hair across the ground and stomping her on the head multiple times, resulting in the impression of his shoe to be visible on her face,” Crown attorney Sarah Kok said.

While the victim wasn’t entirely co-operative with police and refused the “vast majority” of tests at the hospital, two people well known to the pair witnessed the assault, and police took photos of the victim’s injuries, Kok said.

She said there has been a long history of violence between the two, with Blacksmith having several convictions on his record for assaulting the victim as well as previous domestic partners.

Blacksmith was assessed as a very high risk to reoffend, and the message of specific deterrence needs to be sent, Kok said.

She asked that the court impose a one-year sentence for the assault causing bodily harm charge and a consecutive 60 days for the probation breach.

“There needs to be a lengthy custodial sentence to reflect the crime that was occasioned on (the victim), as also reflected by Mr. Blacksmith’s record of non-compliance and violence.”

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison said Blacksmith knows the seriousness of his offending and, looking forward, the best way to address it is through addictions counselling.

“This was fuelled by alcohol,” Harrison said.

“Every time I talked to him, he said, ‘If sober, I wouldn’t have done this.’ Of course, it’s not an excuse, but an explanation of what happened.”

He said Blacksmith grew up surrounded by domestic violence and “drunkenness in the home every day.”

“He’s repeated the cycle, but it’s got to be broken.”

Because of these circumstances, Harrison asked the court to impose a sentence of time already served, which is equivalent to 230 days.

Blacksmith told the court that he missed and loved his kids and that he is going to do his best to live a sober life.

“I wish I could take it back, wish it didn’t happen,” he said.

“I don’t ever want to be back in this place again.”

Hewitt-Michta said while he can’t change the past, he can work hard to set a better example for his children so he doesn’t increase the risk of either of them being involved in a violent relationship.

She sentenced him to nine months for the assault causing bodily harm and another two months for the breach of probation, followed by 18 months of supervised probation.

Taking into account his time in custody, Blacksmith has a go-forward sentence of 100 days.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com