Photo: Contributed
A Kelowna man will spend 57 more days in jail after pleading guilty to four domestic assault charges.
Thomas McBride, 27, appeared in court on Tuesday to be convicted and stated that he was extremely addicted to alcohol at the time of the assault.
The identity of McBride’s victim is protected by a disclosure ban. Court heard him slap her and hit her face, press her head, knock her to the ground, and bit her.
During one incident, McBride met the woman in a Kelowna park before dragging her into his vehicle, driving into a remote area, and assaulting her.
The Crown and Defense on Tuesday presented a joint submission or plea deal to Judge Lisa Wyatt demanding a global prison sentence of 300 days followed by 24 months probation. Wyatt accepted the submission, and with McBride’s serving sentence, he has 57 days left.
McBride’s victim described the ongoing abuse as having significant physical and psychological repercussions on her to this day. She continues to suffer from deep sadness, regret, nightmares, brain trauma, fatigue, loss of appetite, and whiplash.
McBride said he was remorseful on Tuesday: “I feel bad and I’m sorry for what I did.”
McBride said he has been an alcoholic since he was 20 and used it to help manage his own trauma. “I didn’t get a chance to grieve, so I tried using alcohol as an excuse. I was seriously addicted to alcohol … I wish I had stopped a long time ago. “
Judges in Canada are required to respect joint conviction motions from the Crown and Defense, unless they believe the proposed ruling would “discredit the administration of justice” and lead a typical person to believe that there is a “collapse of the proper functioning of the judiciary “gives system.”
