B.C. lawyer who assaulted his wife, sons gets 18 months in prison

VANCOUVER — A B.C. lawyer who was convicted of assaulting his wife and two of his sons has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In November, the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was found guilty of 12 counts related to assaults on his family. The offences occurred between September 2001 and September 2015.

In imposing sentence on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown said there were a number of “statutory” aggravating circumstances, including the fact that he had attacked his spouse and children and in doing so had abused a position of trust.

The judge noted that the assaults occurred over a prolonged period with some of the assaults on his wife taking place in front of their children. The assaults were accompanied in some cases with verbal threats, including a threat to his wife that he would take the kids away from her, the judge said.

Brown noted that the man, who had no prior criminal record, had been suffering from a mental condition, and following his conviction lost his employment at a law firm where he had been working for four years. The Law Society of B.C. is investigating the case and the man is no longer a practising lawyer, said the judge.

Court heard that in the wake of the assaults, the man’s wife felt sad, trapped, terrified and embarrassed to go out in public.

A psychiatrist’s report prepared for the court found that the man persisted in his denial of all of the charges and showed no remorse for his crimes, court heard.

Despite being hospitalized twice for mental health issues, the man denied that he had any mental health problems. His lawyer said the man had been disgraced and left destitute, relying on his parents to provide for him.

In one of the attacks, the man punched his wife in the back, in the area of her liver, resulting in her experiencing pain for over a year. At another time, he kicked one of his sons, who was age eight or nine at the time, in the stomach with sufficient force to knock him backward.

The man will have three years of probation following his release from prison. Conditions of probation include that he take counselling as directed by his probation officer, that he have no contact with his family and abstain from alcohol and drugs.