Life-changing impact of brawl in barroom

One-punch barroom knock-down led to fractured skull, brain injury for victim

The grim consequences for two young men of a single punch in a Kingsville pub three years ago were the subject of a Superior Court of Justice sentencing hearing in Windsor Thursday.

Justice Pamela Hebner heard that both the victim and the offender face possible lifetime repercussions from a chance ugly encounter at the opening night celebration for Shakers Bar and Grill on May 13, 2017.

“If it weren’t for ... a few seconds, we wouldn’t be here. They should have really just walked away from each other,” said Daniel Scott, lawyer for David Penner.

In December, following a trial, Hebner found Penner, 27, guilty of aggravated assault for a single punch that dropped Jacob Huggard to the floor, causing a skull fracture and brain injuries.

Three years later, Huggard has returned to full-time work, but he had to take a different job. Assistant Crown attorney Nicole Lamphier said he still suffers shortterm memory loss and must avoid bright lights and noise.

“Incidents like this are absolutely life-changing to the victim,” said Lamphier, adding “the terror” of such an incident is felt by the victim’s entire family.

Both men were at the pub with friends, but they didn’t know each other. Huggard had been “chirping” at Penner, mocking him for his cowboy boots and his denim jacket and disparaging his Mennonite heritage, according to Scott. At one point, Penner pushed the other man away but he was soon back at it.

In security camera footage from the business, Huggard can’t be seen in the crucial seconds leading up to the punch, but the defence had argued Huggard was waving a beer bottle and Penner reacted in self-defence, an argument the judge didn’t accept.

The punch, said Lamphier, came as a surprise, with the victim’s hands down.

“It was an unsuspected attack with serious, aggravating results,” she said.

The Crown asked for a jail sentence “in the range” of 18 months, with a three-year probationary period to follow. When it comes to aggravated assault convictions, Lamphier said a primary purpose of sentencing is denunciation of the crime and sending a message of deterrence to others.

Describing the incident as a “one-punch situation totally out of character” of a young man with no criminal priors and “no risk that he will reoffend,” Scott asked the judge to consider a suspended sentence with a term of community service and three years probation.

Citing his “hard-working” client’s need to continue employment as a long-haul trucker to support his family, including four-month-old son, Scott also suggested an enhanced victim fine surcharge of up to $5,000 ( judges usually impose $200 victim fine surcharges per conviction count).

“My son needs me,” Penner said when invited by the judge to speak. Turning to the public gallery, where his family and friends sat apart from Huggard’s sister, he added: “I wish Jacob was here so I could give a face-to-face apology — I’m sorry.”

Even before his client’s conviction, Scott said Penner had been prevented from driving commercial loads across the border. He’s also facing a civil suit in which the victim is seeking $1.5 million in damages.

Having been found guilty, Scott said the only outstanding question is how high another judge will set the figure for damages his client will be ordered to pay. With no insurance, “that payment scheme will last decades,” said Scott.

The judge will announce her decision March 25.