Troubled Windsor man gets 7 months for assault
A 31-year-old Windsor man will remain in jail for almost another five months after pleading guilty to assaulting his girlfriend and stealing her cellphone.
The guilty plea submitted Friday in Ontario Court by Kurt Durance comes on the heels of serving a 78-day jail sentence that began on March 15 — a couple of weeks after he was caught by Windsor police spending a bogus US$100 bills inscribed with a foreign language. He was sentenced at that time to jail after pleading guilty in court to two charges related to possessing counterfeit money. According to police, Durance did not manufacture the fake bills, but was caught on video passing on the currency at a convenience store in the 1400 block of Wyandotte Street East, a restaurant in the 1300 block of Walker Road and another convenience store in the 4600 block of Seminole Street. Similar bills that featured letters from the Russian Cyrillic alphabet were also found in the Chatham area. Shortly after completing his jail sentence, Durance reunited with a girlfriend — despite a no-contact order under previous court sentencing.
Police became involved on July 10, when the two were in a heated verbal confrontation and she was reported to have been assaulted. Durance — who has 31 prior convictions as a youth offender and adult — had previously been ordered by the court to attend anger management and partner domestic abuse programs. Court was told Friday that Durance regularly failed to attend those programs and was in violation of his probation by being in contact with his girlfriend.
As a result, he has remained in jail since his July 10 arrest. His defence lawyer Laura Joy told the court Durance has struggled with mental health and substance abuse. She said that when receiving proper medical treatment he remains out of trouble — otherwise problems occur. Durance’s girlfriend was in the court on Friday offering her support for his release. His father and sister were also in court offering support.
But Justice Lynda Ross instead supported the Crown’s request that Durance be sentenced to a total of seven months in jail. He will be given credit for time already served since his arrest on July 10 and will remain locked up for roughly another five months. He also received three years probation and must abide by no contact with his former girlfriend during that time. He can return to the court to apply to have that altered only by completing rehabilitation programs for domestic assault and substance abuse.
“Mr. Durance went through a rough period earlier this year,” said
As it relates to the counterfeit money, he resolved that (by pleading guilty) at his first opportunity and was sentenced.
Joy afterward. “As it relates to the counterfeit money, he resolved that ( by pleading guilty) at his first opportunity and was sentenced accordingly. “As it relates to the new charges today, her honour noted the breach of court orders and failure to complete his rehabilitation programs.” Joy indicated the “underlying reason” for Durance’s criminal behaviour was his mental-health struggles and addiction issues. “The good news is he has workers from Canadian Mental Health assigned to him and has strong family support,” Joy said. “When my client follows things medically, he does well in life.”