Man jailed for encampment stabbing in Niagara Falls

‘Women are not to be beaten. They’re not punching bags,’ offender told

A man with a history of intimate partner violence, who attacked a woman he had a twoweek relationship with and stabbed her new partner multiple times at a homeless encampment, has been sentenced to four years behind bars.

“You have a serious problem with violence, and violence toward women in relationships,” Judge Deborah Calderwood told Mark Stacey in the Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

“Women are not to be beaten. They’re not punching bags. They’re human beings.”

Stacey, 39, was sentenced to four years in custody on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, assault and robbery.

Stacey had originally been charged with attempted murder.

On Nov. 6, 2023, court heard, he entered a tent at an encampment in the area of Victoria Avenue and Buttrey Street in downtown Niagara Falls.

“The accused was armed with a knife and attended the victim’s camp with the intended purpose to seek revenge for (his former girlfriend) being with (her male companion),” said assistant Crown attorney Gordon Akilie.

The 37-year-old man was stabbed multiple times with the knife before the offender grabbed a hatchet from inside the tent and struck him in the legs, torso and head.

Stacey also removed the man’s pants and threatened to cut off his genitals.

Court was told the woman attempted to protect the man and laid on top of him, hoping Stacey would stop stabbing him. The offender continued to swing, striking the woman multiple times with the hatchet.

The male victim was airlifted to a Hamilton hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.

He suffered multiple stab wounds, a collapsed lung, 10 broken ribs and a fracture to his spine.

The woman sustained cuts to her hands and bruising across her back, but did not seek medical attention.

Court was told that the woman had previously been in a relationship with the offender for approximately two weeks.

“Women in relationships are vulnerable, they are disproportionately victimized by their partners because they’re women,” the judge said.

“The effect that has can be profound on not only the victim, but on all women and on society as a whole.”

The Crown called the crime “egregious” and premeditated, saying both victims were asleep inside the tent when the attack began.

The judge agreed.

“You could have killed them,” the judge told the defendant.

“You can’t operate on this level and you’ve had prior offences of a similar nature. Now is the time to get that message before you kill someone.”

Stacey was given credit for the time he had spent in pretrial custody, which reduced the sentence to three years and four months.

He was also banned from having any weapons in his possession for life.