A 37-year-old Vernon, B.C. man was sentenced on Wednesday for committing two separate assaults late last year.
Court heard both attacks occurred within about a month and a half of Christopher Robert Hubley being released from custody on another matter.
The first incident took place in late November 2021 at an apartment complex on 35 Street in Vernon.
A man was hit on the head and neck four times with what the judge described as a “long-barrelled item”.
The judge called it an unprovoked attack on a vulnerable victim.
Police followed a trail of blood back to the apartment where Hubley was arrested but later released.
Police originally believed the assault was a stabbing but in court was revealed to be a beating.
Less than two weeks later, in early December, Hubley visited a Vernon Dairy Queen with two friends.
He ended up bear-spraying an employee in the face in an incident that started with staff asking the group to move from a table that was set aside for delivery drivers.
Hubley’s lawyer told the court his inappropriate responses to situations are a product of his previous time in corrections and he wants help to change that.
“From his perspective, there is an element of protectiveness in the offences. So these weren’t people he set out to attack but rather a perception of this being a fearful situation.” said defence counsel Claire Mastop.
Defence said in the first incident, the victim came uninvited into the apartment that Hubley was living in.
Crown counsel disagreed with the way defence was downplaying the level of aggression in the Dairy Queen offence, calling it an act of “unmitigated aggression.”
Hubley’s lawyer described his life going off track after his daughter suffered health problems and the young girl ultimately ended up seriously disabled.
Defence counsel said, as a result, Hubley quit his job and withdrew from life. Court heard Hubley ended up involved in drugs and crime and at times was homeless or living in a vehicle.
Hubley has been in custody for almost a year since Dec 8, 2021, the day he assaulted the fast food employee.
His lawyer was arguing for a time-served sentence but Crown wanted an additional jail term of around 14 months.
In the end, the judge sentenced Hubley to an additional three months in custody and an 18-month probation order.
The judge said the sentence would have been longer but took into account that Hubley has been kept in segregation for a long time after he was assaulted in jail.
The judge blamed the segregation on a lack of facilities.
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