Woman given suspended sentence after assault at bar

A P.E.I. woman who hit another woman over the head with a beer glass at a Charlottetown bar was given a suspended sentence Monday in provincial court.

Alysia Marie Arsenault, 22, appeared before Judge John Douglas in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to assault with a weapon.

Crown attorney Emily Campbell told the court Arsenault was at Hunters Ale House on June 27 when she saw her boyfriend with the victim.

Arsenault, who was intoxicated, approached the victim from behind and hit her over the head with a beer glass that shattered and left pieces in the woman’s hair, Campbell said.

The court heard the assault left the victim with a bump and redness on scalp.

Campbell said after Arsenault’s arrest she tried to kick a police officer and the windows in a police vehicle.

Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern said Arsenault took responsibility for her actions, and it was clear from a pre-sentence report she had underlying issues.

MacEachern said it was a spontaneous act while Arsenault was in a fragile state of mind.

Before sentencing Arsenault, Douglas said situations like the one before him were far too common and very serious.

“This is a difficult case,” he said. Douglas said it was a case that cried out for denunciation and deterrence, but he also had to consider Arsenault’s personal circumstances.

He didn’t feel jail was necessary to send a denunciatory message, Douglas said.

With the suspended sentence Arsenault will be on probation for one year and she must pay a $100 victim surcharge.