Repeat abuser sentenced to nine months

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This article was published 25/05/2020 (1940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who beat up his common-law partner numerous times — even after entering guilty pleas to previous assaults — has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

“Maya Angelou says when people show you who they are, you should believe them. Mr. Shingoose says, ‘I feel bad about this, I’m sorry about this, it was the alcohol, it was the anger,’ but to me, what it appears to be is an attitude toward his treatment of women,” Judge Donovan Dvorak told Brandon provincial court during his decision on Thursday.

“It’s not an anger issue, everybody gets angry, but that doesn’t mean they abuse their partner. Many people use alcohol in excess and are perfectly fine not repeatedly abusing their partner … he’s a repeated abuser of women, and he continues to hold the view they are at least partly to blame for his actions.”

Virgil Shingoose, 38, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including assault, obstructing a peace officer and breaching a no-contact order.

On Dec. 11, 2019, police were called to the Russell Inn, where a woman reported she had been repeatedly punched in the stomach by her partner, Shingoose, according to a police report.

Witnesses told police they had gone to the victim’s room to check on her, the report said, but Shingoose didn’t want to let them in, instead grabbing the victim and pulling her back into the room.

When one of the witnesses called 911, Shingoose pushed him and tried to kick him.

The victim told police Shingoose hits her a lot, and she had been assaulted a few weeks prior but never reported it.

During that incident, the victim said her hair had been ripped out and she was hit a few more times before managing to run away.

Police found Shingoose wandering the streets in Russell, the report said, and he initially gave officers a false name.

After officers were able to confirm Shingoose’s true identity, he became belligerent and unco-operative while being placed under arrest.

Shingoose pleaded guilty to those assaults in January, but came to police attention again on March 9 when officers were called to a home in Waywayseecappo First Nation.

A woman at the residence told officers she had been at Shingoose’s house earlier that day when he came home from work and saw tire tracks in the snow, Crown attorney Ron Toews said.

He grew jealous and accused her of having someone over, Toews said, so he told the woman to leave and she started to pack her belongings.

Shingoose then grabbed the woman and punched her twice before throwing her and her belongings outside.

Police observed blood on her cheek and a bruise on her right forearm, Toews said.

Shingoose has demonstrated a pattern of assaultive behaviour, Toews said, adding Shingoose was determined to be a very high risk to reoffend in his pre-sentence report.

“It’s not hard to see why given his behaviour over the last year,” Toews said. “This is now his fourth domestic assault in the last year, and he’s expanded his assaultive behaviour toward an individual who was attempting to intervene for the safety of (the victim) … he needs to be held accountable for his assaults.”

Toews recommended a sentence of nine months in jail, which defence lawyer James Beddome argued was “unduly harsh,” especially given the circumstances presented by COVID-19.

Beddome suggested a sentence of five to six months would be more appropriate, further arguing that Shingoose was eligible to receive extra credit for time spent in pre-sentence custody due to COVID-19 — allowing him to be released on time served.

Shingoose has also expressed remorse and taken responsibility for his actions, Beddome said, opting not to take the charges to trial because he didn’t want to put the victim through the stress of having to come to court.

The root of Shingoose’s actions is alcohol abuse and anger-management issues, Beddome said, adding Shingoose had drank copious amounts of alcohol the night of the December incident and didn’t remember what occurred.

Shingoose is willing to seek treatment for these issues and is still a good candidate for rehabilitation, Beddome said.

Dvorak ultimately said he did not agree time served would be appropriate, even taking COVID-19 into consideration.

“The primary consideration of this sentencing is deterrence,” Dvorak said.

Shingoose was sentenced to nine months in jail, followed by 18 months of supervised probation.

Shingoose has spent the equivalent of almost four months in pre-sentence custody, leaving him with a little more than five months left to serve.

 

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