The man who “savagely attacked” an emergency room male nurse at Abbotsford Regional Hospital in March 2015 will not be spending any time in jail.
Ryan Michael Stard pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm in April and on Tuesday in court, he was handed a conditional discharge plus three years probation. This means no jail time and no criminal record for Stard.
The assault took place in March 2015 when, according to Stard’s lawyer, the young man had recently broken up with his girlfriend, had not eaten or slept in many days and had smoked a large amount of marijuana. Stard then believed he was having a heart attack and went to the Abbotsford ER, where he attacked the male nurse.
At the time of the attack, Ian MacDonald of the Abbotsford Police Department said it was “a completely unexpected and unprovoked attack” on the male nurse, who suffered injuries around his eye. The name of the nurse has not been released due to a publication ban.
Leading up to the sentencing, the Defence was asking for a criminal discharge since this was Stard’s first offence, but the Crown was seeking a suspended sentence, which would not result in jail time but he would have a criminal record.
The victim and the B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) President Gayle Duteil called the decision disappointing.
“The laws are ineffective and we’ll be doing everything to pressure the government to change the laws,” Duteil told reporters outside the courthouse.
“The criminal system was changed a few years back to make a harsher sentence, attacking a transit or cab driver and we’re going to do the same for nurses.”
Duteil said the nurse does have permanent injuries and he will no longer be able to work in the ER department. He is currently getting some re-training to work in another capacity.