‘There’s a vigilante mentality’
A Montague man who beat up someone who allegedly assaulted a woman he knew was sentenced Thursday to seven days in jail. Scott Steven McCarthy also got a warning from Chief Judge Nancy Orr that if the victim assaulted the woman it didn’t give McCarthy the right to “put a pounding” on him. “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” she said. McCarthy, 28, appeared before Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown where he pleaded guilty to the assault. The court heard McCarthy’s girlfriend got a text message from a woman she knew who said her boyfriend assaulted her. McCarthy went to their home at around 2 a.m. and confronted the man. When he wasn’t satisfied with how the man responded, McCarthy hit him in the face several times and took him outside to apologize to the woman. The attack gave the victim two black eyes, a swollen ear and broken blood vessels in one eye. Defence lawyer Brendan Hubley said the woman asked McCarthy to help because she didn’t want the police involved. Orr asked if the woman wanted her boyfriend to get beat up, to which Hubley replied he didn’t know.
“That’s ultimately what happened,” he said. Hubley suggested probation would be the appropriate sentence for McCarthy, but Orr disagreed saying it might have been elsewhere, but not in Kings County.
It was the fourth or fifth case she had seen in the last year of someone taking matters into their own hands, Orr said.
“It seems that there’s a vigilante mentality.” In sentencing McCarthy, Orr said she wanted to ensure a message was sent.
“Vigilante justice has no place in our society,” she said.
McCarthy will serve his sentence on weekends so he can continue to work and he must pay a $100 victim surcharge. Teams are making their way to register for P.E.I.’s second annual motionball Marathon of Sport, which will be held today in Charlottetown.
The event, which is in support of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation, will be held at UPEI and will have teams consisting of young professionals pared with Special Olympic athletes.
The goal is to raise $1,000 per term or $100 per person. Points are awarded to teams based on team scores, fundraising efforts and social media participation for a chance to win prizes.
A host of sports will played that day, including soccer, ultimate frisbee, flag football, bench ball and bocce and bubble soccer. Last year there were teams comprised of local businesses, organizations and groups of friends, said Darcy Murnaghan, event director and participant, in a press release. “We hope to see the number of teams participating grow this year,” said Murnaghan.
“The day is really about inclusion and having fun so we encourage people of all skill levels to come and get involved.”
To register a team for this year’s motionball Marathon of Sport email cassie@motionball. com. For more information visit www.motionball.com.