Aggravated Assault (Sentencing Cases) (Prior to 2001)

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2024. (Rev. # 92103)

• < Sentencing
• < Cases

Until 2000

Case Name	Prv.	Crt.	Sentence	Summary
R v MJA, 2000 CanLII 20271 (NB KB)	NB	SC		Find summaries of case.
R v Gagliardi, 2000 ABCA 137 (CanLII), per Jones JA	AB	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Tusek, 1999 CanLII 2075 (ON CA), [1999] OJ No 3413 (CA), per curiam	ON	CA	4 years imprisonment	stabbing customer in restaurant; age 19; no record Find summaries of case.
R v Bunes, 1999 ABCA 29 (CanLII), per Perras JA	AB	CA	18 months imprisonment	"the accused attempted to gouge out the victim’s eyes during a fight at a house party. He then retrieved a beer bottle, hit the victim on the head with a bottle, broke the bottle on the arm of a chair, and twisted the broken bottle into the victim’s face." Find summaries of case.
R v MacLeod, 1999 BCCA 420 (CanLII), per MacKenzie JA	BC	CA	3 years imprisonment	brutal beating and sexual assault Find summaries of case.
R v Biln, 1999 BCCA 369 (CanLII), per McEachern JA	BC	CA	3 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Blackmore, 1999 CanLII 4059 (PE SCAD), per Carruthers JA	PEI	CA	4 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Chisholm, 1998 CanLII 2740 (NS C.A.), per Bateman JA	NS	CA	6 months imprisonment	"began with a commotion at a bar. Once the bar closed, the offender approached the victim wanting to fight, but the latter ignored him. After the victim left the bar to walk a friend back to her apartment, the offender followed them in his car, stopped, got out and swung a ski pole at the victim. The blow was deflected, as was a subsequent punch. Having been pulled away by a third party, the offender then backed his car toward the victim in an unsuccessful attempt to jam him against a building. The victim retaliated and, in so doing, broke two car windows. The offender momentarily left in his car, but returned and drove directly at the victim, this time striking him in the leg and propelling him in the air. The victim suffered injuries described as “relatively minor” (para. 6). The sentence of imprisonment for a term of 16 months on the charge of aggravated assault that followed was upheld on appeal."[1] Find summaries of case.
R v Murphy, 1998 CanLII 31152 (NS SC), per Kelly J	NS	SC	$1,500 fine and 12 months probation	Find summaries of case.
R v Johnson, 1998 CanLII 4838 (BC CA), per Prowse JA	BC	CA	9 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Berry, 1998 ABCA 107 (CanLII), per curiam	AB	CA	2 years less a day	Find summaries of case.
R v Szpala, 1998 CanLII 17662 (ON CA), 124 CCC (3d) 430, per Finlayson JA	ON	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Rasanen, 1997 CanLII 3368 (BC C.A.), per Hall JA	BC	CA	6 years imprisonment	premeditated attack; bragged to friends about it. Find summaries of case.
R v John, 1997 CanLII 3220 (BC CA), per Rowles JA	BC	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v David, 1997 CanLII 2221 (BC CA), per Southin JA	BC	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v McQuaid, 1997 NSCA 209 (CanLII), per Chipman JA	NS	CA	2 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Dixon, 1997 NSCA 50 (CanLII), per Chipman JA	NS	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v McNeil, 1997 CanLII 2875 (NS SC), per Saunders J	NS	SC	18 months imprisonment (aggr.) 10 years imprisonment (manslaughter)	Find summaries of case.
R v Smith, 1996 CanLII 1615 (BC CA)	BC	CA	8 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Murphy, 1995 NSCA 49 (CanLII), per Chipman JA	NS	CA	2 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Hill, 1995 CanLII 3080 (BC CA), per Taylor JA	BC	CA	4 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Comishin, 1994 CanLII 2592 (BC CA), per Hollinrake J	BC	CA	12 months imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Powell, 1994 CanLII 4072 (NS CA), per Clarke CJ	NS	CA	Suspended Sentence	Offender got into a fist fight with his mother's boyfriend causing bruises and cuts. Offender was unemployed and had a prior related record for assaults. Court emphasized rehabilitation. The offender was "involved an accused who was found guilty of aggravated assault after getting into a fight with and causing injury to his mother’s boyfriend. In reaching the decision to impose a suspended sentence with three years’ probation, the court considered the past record of the accused, the fact that it was a family argument, and that all parties had been drinking at the time of the offence." Find summaries of case.
R v Powell, 1994 NSCA 204 (CanLII), per Clarke CJ	NS	CA	suspended	Find summaries of case.
R v Marks, 1994 CanLII 9742 (NL CA), 91 CCC (3d) 421, per O’Neill JA	NL	SC		Find summaries of case.
R v Lawrence, 1993 CanLII 4611 (NS SC), {{{4}}}, per Goodfellow J	NS	SC		Find summaries of case.
R v Mitchell, 1993 CanLII 457 (BC CA), 24 BCAC 73, per Goldie JA	BC	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Nicholson, 1993 CanLII 2171 (BC CA), {{{4}}}, per McEachern JA	BC	CA	4 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Crabe, 1993 CanLII 14715 (BC CA), {{{4}}}, per Hinkson JA	BC	CA	5 years imprisonment (aggravated) 5 years imprisonment (robbery)	Find summaries of case.
R v McDonald, 1992 CanLII 8257 (SK CA), per Tallis JA	SK	CA	3 years imprisonment	The offender hit the victim in the face with a glass, knocking him unconscious. The offender was 21 years old with a lengthy record. Find summaries of case.
R v Burton, 1992 CanLII 2573 (NS CA), per Hallett JA	NS	CA	2.5 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Desmond, 1992 CanLII 2581 (NS CA), per Clarke CJ	NS	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Childs, 1991 ABCA 300 (CanLII), per curiam	AB	CA	7 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v RDH, 1991 CanLII 2476 (NS CA), per Matthews JA	NS	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Julian, 1991 CanLII 2514 (NS CA), per Hallett JA	NS	CA	4 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v Porter, 1990 CanLII 2519 (NS CA), per Clarke CJ	NS	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Dzikowski, 1990 CanLII 2539 (NS CA), per Matthews JA	NS	CA	20 months imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v ELC, 1990 CanLII 4250 (NS CA), per Macdonald JA	NS	CA	3 years imprisonment	Find summaries of case.
R v BH, 1989 ABCA 227 (CanLII), 50 CCC (3d) 551, per Bracco JA	AB	CA		Find summaries of case.
R v Giles, , [1989] NSJ 341(*no CanLII links)	NS	PC		"the accused attacked a doorman/bouncer with a bottle causing permanent injury to the victim's eye. The accused was described as mild-man-nered with no history of violence and a good employment history. In imposing a sentence of four months incarceration and two years'probation the Court of Appeal stressed that crimes of violence required an emphasis on general and specific deterrence" [2]
R v Silvea, , [1988] N.S.J. No. 327; 86 N.S.R.(2d) 346(*no CanLII links)	NS	CA	9 years imprisonment	The "victim was a pizza delivery man who was brutally assaulted by the accused with such severity that he was rendered unconscious and resulted in him being a spastic quadriplegic." [3]