A Sarnia-area man who accidentally was shot in the shoulder last year has been jailed nearly two years for a pair of violent assaults.
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Tristen Nahmabin, 20, from Aamjiwnaang First Nation pleaded not guilty to several charges linked to two altercations last summer at the start of a June 26 trial. But after hearing the assault victim testify, he changed his mind and pleaded guilty to multiple charges including assault and assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm.
“It was an emotional reaction on his part, as well as an intellectual one,” defense lawyer Ken Marley told Justice Paul Kowalyshyn during a sentencing hearing held late last week.
Kowalyshyn called the assaults vicious, violent, callous and extremely dangerous. He recalled the victim’s testimony detailing her injuries from the Aug. 7 and Aug. 9, 2023, attacks: a black eye, bloody nose, bruises and welts from punches and whacks from a mop or broom handle.
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“That incident was violent. It was demeaning. It was unprovoked,” assistant Crown attorney Aniko Coughlan said.
She also pointed out the attacks took place less than a month after he was released from jail after serving a nine-month sentence for two convictions for assault with a -weapon. He was also on probation at the time.
“Mr. Nahmabin has shown he has no regard for court orders,” she said.
Coughlan asked for two years in jail. Marley said that was too long as, although his client has an unenviable record, he’s a young Indigenous man who had a tumultuous childhood.
He argued for 10 to 12 months behind bars, preferably at the Algoma Treatment and Remand Center in Sault Ste. Marie where he can get drug addiction treatment.
“I don’t envy this task, because it is a challenging one,” Marley said to Kowalyshyn.
The judge settled on 22 months in jail and agreed to recommend Algoma. After getting credit for pre-plea custody, Nahmabin has about 13 months left to serve. When he’s released he’ll have a three-year probation order and a lifetime weapons ban in effect.
In the meantime, Nahmabin has another case that’s heading to Superior Court of Justice in Sarnia. It will be addressed later this month.
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