Conditional sentence for teen who broke man’s jaw

A Fort Erie teenager who broke a man’s jaw after the victim accidentally struck his sister with an open car door has been granted a conditional discharge. The discharge means the defendant, who was 17 when the crime occurred and cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, will not have a criminal record even though he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing bodily harm. On July 5, 2016, court was told, the teen and his sister were among a group of young people who became involved in an altercation with a second group of people sitting inside a car. A female attempted to spit at a person in the car, court was told, and the driver panicked and reversed the vehicle. Assistant Crown attorney Tom Jacob said the passenger side door, which was open, struck the teen’s sister and she fell to the ground. The victim drove off and was pursued in another vehicle by the defendant. When the victim stopped his car near Gilmore Road, court heard, a female smashed his window with a tire iron and the defendant punched him in the face, breaking his jaw. Defence lawyer Patrick Little told Judge Fergus O’Donnell there had been an ongoing dispute between the two parties for some time. “Let’s be blunt,” the judge told the teen. “Most disputes of this nature are just plain stupid.” O’Donnell called the incident a “collective manifestation of bad judgment and immaturity.” The teen was also placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.