Regina Leader-Post

Man says he’s sorry for attacking friend with hammer

- HEATHER POLISCHUK hpolischuk@postmedia.com twitter.com/LPHeatherP

A friendship frayed by addiction lay at the root of a 2015 hammer attack that left one man with skull fractures and another facing a jail term.

During his sentencing Monday, Hartley Joseph Matechuk, 38, told the court about the difficult time he’s had in custody and the positive changes he’s worked hard to make in his and others’ lives. But it wasn’t until he spoke about what he did to his old friend that his voice broke with emotion.

“I’ve known him for a long time,” he said, telling the court he had a tough time listening to the details of his offence. “It’s too bad the way things turned out.”

Matechuk was originally charged with attempted murder, but pleaded guilty instead to aggravated assault. Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Janet McMurtry agreed to impose the four-year prison term jointly recommende­d by Crown and defence counsel, a sentence that was whittled down to 226 days after remand credit.

Court heard Matechuk has been in custody since December 2015 when, on Dec. 17, he went to a party at his friend’s Regina home.

Defence lawyer Talon Regent said the lengthy friendship had become strained when the complainan­t fell into crystal meth addiction. Court heard Matechuk — who himself had an alcohol problem — hoped to reconcile with his friend when he went over that night.

Crown prosecutor Kim Jones said there was drinking and drug use by many partygoers and Regent said his client was under the influence of alcohol. Eventually, everyone left, leaving just Matechuk, his friend and his friend’s partner in the house.

Jones said the woman came out of the bedroom at one point, finding Matechuk on the sofa. He asked where his friend was and the woman said he was sleeping. Court heard Matechuk went in and started punching the other man, then went into the kitchen and found a finishing hammer. That in hand, he returned to the bedroom and began repeatedly hitting the other man on the head with it.

He eventually stopped and, shortly after, the woman flagged down a passerby and police were called.

The complainan­t was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered several depressed skull fractures.

Jones said he stayed in hospital a few days and was able to be treated without the need for plates in his skull.

Court heard Matechuk was born to parents who, like their parents before them, struggled with their residentia­l school experience.

His parents’ alcohol addictions left Matechuk and his siblings in foster care, where he suffered abuse.

Although he developed his own alcohol problem, he has also worked to help others, including through his work with Street Culture Kidz and roles coaching kids’ hockey and volleyball.

An aspiring carpenter, Matechuk made efforts to confront his alcohol problem in the past but fell off the wagon a couple years before the incident when his teenage daughter committed suicide.

Matechuk discussed those hardships, but ended by saying he wanted to apologize to the other man.

“I lost a good friend ...,” he said. “If he can’t forgive me, it’s understand­able.”

I’ve known him for a long time, I lost a good friend.

If he can’t forgive me, it’s understand­able.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada