A Penticton judge described a back-alley swarming as an “unprovoked” and “vicious assault” and then handed one of the men involved was given four months of house arrest on Monday.
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In summarizing the case, the judge said Thomas Brayden Kruger-Allen was at the Mule Nightclub on Aug. 12, 2017 with a group of friends when he joined in an altercation in a back alley where the victim believed he was going to be in a consensual fight with one person. Kruger-Allen, now 22 years old, kicked the man in the face after he had already been assaulted and fell to the ground.
Three men were charged in the assault that left the victim with a shattered nose and a broken orbital bone.
“Mr. Kruger-Allen committed the offence for no other reason than the vague notion that (the victim) had some sort of a problem with one of Mr. Kruger-Allen’s friends. He cannot tell us what he understood that problem to be. His actions were therefore by no means justified, they were not even comprehensible,” said Judge Andrew Tam.
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During the sentencing, Tam took into consideration that Kruger-Allen did not have any previous criminal convictions on his record, his age, receptiveness to rehabilitation and positive character references from his employer and family. As well, he took into account Kruger-Allen’s extremely tough start at life and how reports identified alcohol as a major factor in his “violent” behaviour. The court previously heard that he grew up in an environment of entrenched alcoholism, drug addiction and violence.
“There is much hope yet for Mr. Kruger-Allen. While he has had some difficulty in complying with his bail conditions he has not reached the point where I find that he must be incarcerated in order to be separate from society,” said Tam.
The judge said while the victim did suffer serious injuries, there was no evidence that Kruger-Allen was the person solely, or even mainly, responsible for the injuries. Damien Tyrell Keddie was one of the group that was charged with aggravated assault and sentenced to 240 days in prison. Taish Alvin Desmonie, who faces the same allegations, has not yet faced the charges in court.
Crown counsel was seeking a six to an eight-month jail sentence and two years of probation for the aggravated assault charge Kruger-Allen pleaded guilty to. Tam sentenced him to a four-month conditional sentence followed by 18 months of probation. Kruger-Allen is ordered to abide by a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew while serving his conditional sentence, he is not allowed to be in possession of any weapons and is not allowed to consume alcohol or any drugs that are not medically prescribed to him. A no-contact order was put in place with the victim and Kruger-Allen must complete any rehabilitation/counselling programs put in place by his supervisor and probation officer.
Kruger-Allen was also sentenced to one day, satisfied by his appearance in court on Monday, for a breach of probation while on bail for the aggravated assault charge. This was his third breach on this offence, which he was handed a $300 fine for the previous two.
He will return to court later this month for an incident that took place in May where it is alleged he punched Bradley Eliason at a beach fire on Okanagan Lake. The wife of Eliason told the Western News that after being punched he fell onto the concrete causing an extensive brain injury.
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