An Oliver man could not convince a judge to give him enhanced credit for delays in court that resulted from him being stabbed while behind bars.
Bryan William Johnson was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm, assault, uttering threats and three counts of breach. He was sentenced on Tuesday in Penticton provincial court to two years less a day. Judge Meg Shaw was not convinced he deserved the enhanced credit he was seeking, but she did give him credit for the 15 months he has been behind bars waiting sentencing, leaving the man with 230 days remaining in custody.
Shaw said Johnson was not eligible for enhanced credit because he was detained after breaching his release conditions. Johnson had argued he was serving under harsh conditions and then stabbed multiple times by another inmate, causing him physical and emotional problems that then delayed the court process.
Johnson found himself in jail for an incident where he kicked and punched his girlfriend in the face on Dec. 23, 2011. When RCMP arrived, he yelled at them through the window of his residence that he wasn’t coming out and he was going to bed. The woman was bleeding from her head and told officers Johnson had hit her with a baseball bat. Mounties had to breach the front door to arrest Johnson, who they found sitting in his bedroom. Less than a month later he was arrested again on Jan 12, 2012 when RCMP received a call from a neighbour stating it sounded like “they were tearing the place apart.”
Crown counsel John Swanson previously told the court Mounties had to break down the door and found Johnson’s girlfriend lying on the floor bleeding from her face severely, with a bloody nose and a swollen eye. The neighbour said they heard screaming that lasted for 15 to 20 minutes and when they went to check they saw Johnson punching and kicking the woman in the body. The female neighbour gave evidence that she tried to intervene and Johnson then kicked his girlfriend in the face while he was wearing his boots. Crown counsel had been seeking federal time on all the matters.
During the last appearance, Johnson said he felt terrible for what took place between him and his girlfriend.
“I’m not saying I didn’t do anything wrong here but she has a bad drinking problem … I do take full responsibility for my part in it,” he said.
He explained that in the second incident he had just moved into the residence and his girlfriend just showed up, even though he had a no-contact order and he told her to go away. Johnson said she consumed a lot of liquor and hit her eye on the railing.
“I didn’t kick her in the face. It was wrong for her to be there,” he said. “I’m not a violent person. I have a temper but it takes two. In two months I lost my house because of her, was kicked out of my RV, had everything stolen from me. I apologize for my part in all the havoc.”
Johnson indicated to the court he would be living in the Vernon area when he is finally released from jail because he said it would not be safe for him in Oliver as a result of the assault he received in jail. He must abide by a number of conditions including no contact with the victims or be within 100 metres of their work or homes.
