A former RCMP officer has been given a six-month conditional sentence for a violent attack on a prisoner at the Lac La Biche detachment in September 2009.
Const. Desmond Sandboe previously pleaded guilty to assault for the beating, and was sentenced on Wednesday to the community-based term.
The first three months of the sentence will be served under house arrest, and Sandboe will have to abide by a curfew for the last three months of the sentence.
Judge Robert Philp said Sandboe’s assault on Andrew Clyburn “undermines public confidence in the police and the rule of law.”
“The offender abused both the public trust and his position of authority,” Philp said.
Philp declined to impose a conditional discharge as had been requested by the defence, saying it would be contrary to the public interest.
The assault was captured by video cameras inside the detachment. The footage shows Sandboe grabbing Clyburn, smashing him against a wall, and then repeatedly punching him once he is on the floor.
Crown prosecutor Jason Neustaeter had argued for a jail sentence, calling the assault a breach of trust and a breach of authority.
During the sentencing arguments in January, defence lawyer Rod Gregory said Sandboe had been stressed from over-work, and may have had post-traumatic stress disorder because of the death of an RCMP colleague at Mayerthorpe in 2005.
Philp said he didn’t consider Sandboe a risk to reoffend, and didn’t believe he was a danger to the community.
At his January court appearance, Sandboe apologized to his victim.
“I made a fatal error in judgment and have been living a nightmare since,” he said. “My career with the RCMP has gone up in smoke in a matter of 40 seconds. I have, and I do, take responsibility.”
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