‘Out-of-the-blue’ assault leaves man blind in one eye

A Brantford man who stabbed a man in the eye for no apparent reason was handed a global three-year jail sentence recently in Ontario Court.

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Ryan A. Osborn, 31, was taking drugs at the time of the Jan. 15 attacks earlier this year when he attacked his boarding house roommate “out of the blue”, said Justice Colette Good.

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“It has not been explained as to why this assault happened,” said the judge, noting there was a history of tension between the two men.

“But it doesn’t give you a right to act out in such a terrible fashion.”

Osborn used a small knife to inflict injuries that were severe, sending his victim to hospital with a cut to his lower cheekbone, multiple orbital fractures, bleeding behind his left eye, damage to the artery and permanent vision loss.

After a judicial pre-trial, Osborn pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, sparing his victim, who is said to be quite traumatized and afraid of his former roommate, from having to testify in court.

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The judge and lawyers agreed that Osborn’s moral culpability was reduced due to his diagnosed mental illness, which was said to have been brought on by excessive use of nutmeg, which can have a dangerous hallucinogenic effect, and cough syrup at a young age.

Osborn later was addicted to cocaine and methamphetamine, which can result in permanent brain damage.

“He perceives reality differently than others,” said the judge. “At the time of the incident he was consuming street drugs and had stopped taking medication to control that mental illness.”

But Good declined to give Osborn much credit for some of his Gladue factors because, although his ancestors, and even mother, had suffered severe inter-generational trauma due to abuse at St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Kenora, the judge said Osborn’s mother provided him with a good life.

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“In spite of her extremely difficult upbringing, she excelled and succeeded in her life.. often working multiple jobs so she could pay her way through school.”

Good did agree to give Osborn extra credit for his difficult time in jail before he was found guilty.

He was there in days of lock-downs and, for almost 200 days was triple-bunked, and it was usually Osborn who was forced to sleep on the floor next to the toilet.

Osborn himself had little to say to the court except to correct the description of his weapon.

With time served, Osborn was left with 502 more days in jail.

The judge ordered him not to have any weapons for 10 years and no prohibited weapons for the rest of his life.

She recommended his incarceration be at a provincial jail with programming aimed at those dealing with mental health illnesses.

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