Prison terms for Central Park beating

A 35-year-old man who was repeatedly kicked and also hit with a skateboard in Regina’s Central Park last summer has made a “miraculous recovery,” but there was no such divine intervention to spare his attackers from prison.

“This was a very serious beating of an individual,” Judge Marylynne Beaton told the trio on Monday.

Barry Ryan Strongarm, 25, Cayden Cheyne Blacklaws, 20, and Marcus Ivan Lonechild, 18, pleaded guilty in Regina Provincial Court to aggravated assault.

Accepting a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence, Beaton sentenced the men to a further 2½ years in prison. With credit for time already served since their arrests, it’s considered the equivalent of a sentence of 3 years and 7½ months. She noted all the men have records that include previous violent offences.

“It’s not a light sentence. It’s not a heavy sentence ... It is a fair sentence,” said Beaton.

Crown prosecutor Derek Davidson said the victim was in the park, at 14th Avenue and Scarth Street, around 3:30 a.m. on June 4 last year when the attack occurred — exactly why remains murky.

The man suffered multiple fractures to facial bones, a broken jaw and was initially comatose when police arrived. While he recovered, he has no memory of the attack.

Police arrived to find Blacklaws and two young women, one of whom told police the victim had propositioned her, thinking she was a sex trade worker. She, in turn, told the three men, and they attacked the victim. She also admitted kicking the man three times in the face, Davidson told the court.

Some of the trio said they had no idea what sparked the fight.

“There was an excessive amount of alcohol consumed,” said defence lawyer Merv Shaw, representing Blacklaws, who told police he kicked the victim twice.

Lonechild, arrested June 5, told police he stepped into the fracas, delivered an uppercut blow to the victim’s jaw then kicked him at least 20 times in the head while he was on the ground.

Arrested the next day, Strongarm admitted kicking the man two or three times, then fled. “He was very scared the victim would not make it,” he reportedly told police.

The victim was fortunate to escape a brain injury, said Davidson, adding that the only difficulty was with some headaches three months afterwards. Davidson said no further update is available because neither the victim’s family nor police were able to locate the victim for Monday’s proceedings. The man has no fixed address.

While none of those questioned admitted using a skateboard in the attack, Strongarm’s blood was on it, and injuries on the victim’s face were consistent with the wheels of the skateboard, Davidson told court.

Lonechild’s lawyer Noah Evanchuk described the incident as “very spur of the moment.”

Strongarm’s lawyer Dave Andrews said his client had been working full time until his arrest.

Beaton noted that although the men participated to varying degrees, the attack was a joint enterprise and they are equally responsible.

Also charged was a 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named. She is still before the court.