A former Sarnia trucker was staring at a suspended sentence for a strange incident where he confronted his brother-in-law with a knife about something posted on Facebook.
But Justice Deborah Austin said a jail sentence of 15 days was more appropriate.
“A recognition that walking in to confront your brother-in-law about online communication – whatever it might be – and pulling a knife is something that the courts take extremely seriously and justifies a jail sentence,” she said.
The incident took place around 1 pm on Nov. 9, 2020, outside Herman Vanderlinde’s sister’s and brother-in-law’s Toro Street home. The husband found Vanderlinde in their garage, so he chased him down the driveway and across street.
“Mr. Vanderlinde turned towards (him) and pulled out a pocketknife and pointed it towards him, stating, ‘Let’s go,’” assistant Crown attorney Sarah Carmody said while reading an agreed statement of facts.
Vanderlinde, 58, chased him back to his home with the knife, caught up to him and pricked his left forearm. With a small abrasion forming, the man asked Vanderlinde what he wanted.
He responded he was upset about something he wrote on Facebook messenger.
“But the exact issue was not precisely known as Mr. Vanderlinde was not making much sense,” Carmody said.
The man offered to show him there were no messages, but he was still upset and left. Vanderlinde was arrested soon after with a silver folding knife clipped to his clothes. He was released with rules of staying away from their home, but was caught there twice, once the following month and again in April 2021.
Vanderlinde pleaded guilty last week over Zoom from the Sarnia Jail to assault with a weapon and two counts of failing to comply with an undertaking. Defense lawyer Terry Brandon said his client wasn’t delusional and was worried his brother-in-law would attack him that Monday afternoon, but admits what he did was beyond self-defence.
“He ought not to have conducted himself in the fashion in which he did,” she said.
Vanderlinde had a priori, but unrelated, criminal record. An injury and an impaired-driving conviction ended his career as a trucker and he’s since battled homelessness, Brandon said.
But spending time behind bars has been worse.
“It has been an awful, awful experience for him being in jail,” Brandon said.
But he’s used his time there wisely, she added.
“With a Bible in his cell to get back to his base roots and to really reflect on what has happened in his life,” she said.
Vanderlinde declined a chance to address the court.
Brandon said he wants to reunite with his sibling and her husband after he’s released if they’re willing. Carmody said the couple haven’t responded to requests for victim-impact statements, but added they were fearful of him and didn’t want any contact. The judge imposed a two-year probation order allowing them to decide whether there will be any contact.
The court heard reference to a second incident involving a different complainant, which was going to trial. Those charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to these three charges, but the complainant’s name was added to his no-contact list.
Vanderlinde, who used pre-trial custody to serve his sentence, is also banned from weapons, including knives, for five years.