Penticton man gets 17.5 months for sucker punch

Joshua Alexander Mcbride will spend the next 17-and-a-half months in jail for a sucker punch that left a Penticton man with long-lasting injuries and a titanium plate in his head.

The decision, handed down by Judge Meg Shaw, came weeks after Mcbride’s sentencing disposition hearing on Feb. 19. That hearing heard submissions of one year from defence and 18 to 24 months from the Crown.

The court proceedings follow an August 2016 incident, in which Mcbride walked up to the victim downtown Penticton at 2 a.m. and randomly punched him in the head. Mcbride at the time was heard saying something to the effect of “I’m an asshole; sorry about this.”

The victim and Mcbride did not know each other.

While the victim’s girlfriend wrote a victim impact statement, read in court in the February hearing, the victim’s own statement was not heard in court until Monday morning.

“Since the assault, I have many physical and physiological injuries. I now have blurred vision due to the damage that was done to the orbital socket. I also experience facial numbness in certain parts of my face,” he wrote.

“After the assault, I started having frequent headaches which I have never suffered from in the past. These headaches get very intense to the point where I cannot even open my eyes. I have also started having back pain.

“Since the assault, it is hard for me to forget about all the surgeries and pain that I have had to go through. Each time I look in the mirror, it brings the incident back to me because of the scarring.”

The victim said he lost about $5,000 in lost wages due to the incident, going into credit card debt due to the lost wages. He added that he had lost the money he and his girlfriend had saved up for a house.

“The concern long-term is that these injuries will worsen over time,” he said. “This brutal assault has affected my mental health, and I find when and if I walk around downtown I am extremely cautious and nervous.”

Mcbride’s defence noted an extensive list of traumas and difficulties in his past, including mental health in his family and poverty. As well, Mcbride’s brother is of more notorious stature in Penticton, including a recent conviction for his part in a shooting in the city last year.

For that, Harley Mcbride is serving a total sentence of two years in a federal prison.

But Shaw appeared more sympathetic to the victim, and her decision landed closer to the Crown’s submissions than the defence.

“(The victim) suffered eight broken facial wounds, including an orbital bone on the right side of his face, as well as swelling and bruising,” she said. “(He) required surgery, which included the placement of a titanium plate to his face. He will have to live with that for the rest of his life.”

She did note that Mcbride did not have a criminal record and that he appears to show remorse for the incident, which he said he does not remember.

“There is some consideration for a traumatic or sad childhood,” she said.

“The victim … was a complete stranger to Mcbride, and the assault occurred with no provocation and without any warning. Mcbride sucker punched (the victim) with an action of considerable violence.”

Shaw handed Mcbride a sentence of 16 months for aggravated assault, along with a 45-day sentence for uttering threats against his girlfriend after she threatened to call police on him.