A man charged with attempted and aggravated assault murder linked to a stabbing in a controversial Sarnia homeless camp has pleaded guilty instead to assault with a weapon and been sentenced to nine months in jail.
A man charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault linked to a stabbing in a controversial Sarnia homeless camp has pleaded guilty instead to assault with a weapon and been sentenced to nine months in jail.
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Richard Hales, 33, of no fixed address, was arrested after Stewart James was stabbed in the neck on May 6 around 6:30 pm in Rainbow Park, police and court records said at the time. The stabbing took place just hours before Sarnia city council decided to hit pause on removing the encampment amid legal and human rights concerns.
Hales initially was charged with attempted murder and breaching probation and additional charges of uttering threats and aggravated assault were added about two weeks later. Hales, who never got bail, recently was brought into a Sarnia courtroom, where he pleaded guilty from the prisoner’s box to assault with a weapon, the lesser included offense tied to aggravated assault, and the rest of the charges were dropped.
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The court heard a few additional facts. Hales fled before police were called that Monday night, but was arrested close to the park.
“Multiple eye witnesses, many of whom are transient and unco-operative, advised that the suspect was the accused, Richard Hales,” Nila Mulpuru, Lambton’s acting Crown attorney, said. “Witnesses who remained on scene advised that Mr. Hales attacked Mr. James with a knife all over his body.”
Some witnesses said two knives were used, a large and a small one, but police only found the smaller one. James was taken to Bluewater Health, where he got stiches for seven superficial cuts and a tetanus shot.
He gave police a statement while in hospital, but hasn’t talked to them since he was discharged.
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“Since that time, Mr. James could not be located,” Mulpuru said, adding significant efforts were made to find him.
Both lawyers suggested nine months in jail and probation for Hales, a sentence Justice Ronald Minard accepted. Mulpuru told the judge although Hales has a prior criminal record, it’s mostly for property offenses and not following court orders, except for an assault with a weapon conviction in 2012, which got him three months in jail at the time.
“So, your honor will note that, today, we are proposing a sentence that is a significant step up from that past sentence,” she said.
The judge added two years of probation ordering Hales to stay away from James and from where he lives or is known to be, so if he’s in Rainbow Park he can’t be there.
But defense lawyer Sarah Donohue said her client wasn’t planning on moving back to the park, or anywhere in Sarnia. Instead he’s moving to somewhere else in Lambton County where he’ll be studying the Bible, looking for a job and working on his sobriety.
“I wish you well, sir, and hopefully we won’t see you again,” Minard said.
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