Sarnia man charged with attempted murder recently jailed for knife-related domestic offense

A man charged last week with attempted murder after Sarnia police said a man who was stabbed suffered a life-altering spinal injury was recently jailed for a pair of convictions linked to a knife.

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Dillon Gray-Vail, a 20-year-old Sarnia resident, pleaded guilty in late September to possession of a knife for a dangerous purpose and breaching probation by having a knife and was handed a 62-day sentence.

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In September the court heard Gray-Vail got in a heated argument with his then-partner around 3:30 am on April 30, 2023.

“At one point during this dispute Mr. Gray-Vail held a knife and stabbed it into a mattress, creating a hole in the mattress while (his partner) was laying on the mattress nearby,” Nila Mulpuru, Lambton’s Crown attorney, said at the time while reading an agreed statement of facts.

Gray-Vail fled but was arrested.

“Regarding the use of a knife, it’s a pretty concerning set of facts,” Justice Mark Poland, who imposed the approximately two-month sentence both lawyers suggested, said during September’s sentencing hearing.

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Poland also called his prior criminal record, which started in 2022, pretty concerning.

“When you look at that record, it’s just assault after assault after assault,” he said.

Mulpuru agreed.

“It displays a consistent pattern of aggression and non-compliance,” she said.

Defense lawyer Autumn Johnson said her client, from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, has suffered from generational colonialism and had a very difficult upbringing, bouncing around from different family homes and Children’s Aid Society care. He also was diagnosed with various disorders and suffered physical abuse as a child, she said.

But he’s put in a significant amount of work during the years, including participating in recovery and First Nations groups, and was doing well as of late September, she said.

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“He tries very hard,” she said.

Gray-Vail declined a chance to address the court at the time.

Poland told Gray-Vail his job as a judge is to create a peaceful and safe society for everyone.

“Whether that’s a future partner, whether that’s a person you run into on the street,” he said.

The judge added an 18-month probation order that included a ban on weapons along with a separate five-year weapons ban.

Sarnia police allege Gray-Vail breached his probation order by having a knife during the recent incident.

Police previously said the 33-year-old man who was stabbed, identified by short documents as Trevor Clark, had been cycling on Devine Street on Jan. 12 when he encountered two other males. They spoke, a physical confrontation ensued and one suspect stabbed the victim in the back of the neck, police said.

Clark is expected to survive but has suffered life-altering injuries, police said.

Both suspects fled on foot. Two men in their early 20s were initially charged with attempted murder, but a second suspect was quickly cleared.

The charges against Gray-Vail haven’t been tested in court.

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@ObserverTerry

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