Gladue report sought for violent man

The defence lawyer for a man awaiting sentencing on two significant assaults is looking into whether a “Gladue” report might be a possibility.

Richard Daniel Wolfe pleaded guilty on Monday at Regina Court of Queen’s Bench to sexual assault and assault with a weapon in relation to an incident from April 6, 2014, in Fort Qu’Appelle.

After pleas were entered and brief facts heard, defence lawyer Kim Stinson told Justice Lian Schwann he intends to ask that a Gladue report be ordered that would examine elements of Wolfe’s First Nations background that might have helped contribute to his offending.

While Gladue factors have been canvassed in the past as part of pre-sentence reports, stand-alone Gladue reports are relatively new for offenders in this province. Because of that, there was uncertainty on Monday as to how to go about ordering the report, which is expected to take at least a couple of months to prepare.

The case was set over to March 26 so Stinson can look further into the matter.

A date for sentencing has yet to be determined.

At 39 years of age, Wolfe is no stranger to the courts, nor to violence.

One of the founders of the Indian Posse street gang (along with his brother Daniel Richard Wolfe, who was killed in prison three years ago), Wolfe, in 1996, received close to two decades in prison for attempted murder, robbery and a weapons offence from Winnipeg.

While in prison on those charges, Wolfe added to his record with convictions for assault causing bodily harm and disguise with intent, resulting in a further two-year term.

It was while Wolfe was out on statutory release that he committed the latest offences, which took place early in the morning of April 6.

Court heard that a woman had been drinking at a Fort Qu’Appelle house with a number of people, including Wolfe, and had eventually gone to the bedroom to sleep.

She estimated that at about 6 a.m., she began to awaken to the feeling of what she assumed was her boyfriend on top of her kissing and touching her as he attempted to initiate sex.

It wasn’t until she heard the man’s voice stating, “Whiteboy won’t tell” (a reference to the nickname of another of the partygoers), that the woman fully awoke and discovered it wasn’t her boyfriend in bed with her.

The woman be g an screaming as Wolfe reportedly smiled down at her, attempting to rape her while holding her arms forcibly above her head.

Court heard the woman’s screams woke her boyfriend who had been sleeping elsewhere in the house.

When the boyfriend ran in, the woman was able to escape.

But Wolfe then turned on the boyfriend, using a baseball bat he found in the room to beat him. The male victim estimated he was struck on the head about six times, sustaining an additional 30 blows to other parts of his body.

The sudden appearance of two visitors allowed the male victim to fight back and, following a struggle, Wolfe ran from the house, naked from the waist down. The boyfriend tried to chase Wolfe but collapsed near the house.

Court heard the man suffered significant injuries that led to his needing a walker and wheelchair to get around for a time.

Wolfe became the subject of a Canada-wide warrant after the attack.

He then turned himself in to police two days later.