Jekyll and Hyde offender sentenced for assault

Drugs and alcohol transform Joshua McGraw from a polite and respectful Dr. Jekyll into an angry and violent Mr. Hyde, his lawyer told a Windsor court.

After McGraw, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic assault and a count each of unlawful entry and mischief under $5,000, Superior Court Justice Pamela Hebner sentenced him Thursday to a four-month jail sentence followed by a two-year period of probation during which he was ordered to seek counselling. Assistant Crown attorney Megan Cleland said McGraw was nine months into an intimate and increasingly unstable relationship with a woman in Leamington when the couple got into a verbal dispute in early July 2017.

She said McGraw, abusing drugs and steroids at the time, grabbed the woman by the throat and “threw her into an entertainment centre” at the home before punching a wall.

A few days later, after being told “numerous times” to stay away, McGraw forced his way into the residence, grabbed the victim by the throat and threw her against a dryer before throwing her into the kitchen and then pushing her out the back door of her home. He also “shredded” a bedroom door by repeatedly punching it. McGraw, a powerfully built man, pleaded guilty to four charges, but he will stand trial next March on five additional counts, including sexual assault and forcible confinement.

Defence lawyer Neil Rooke said substance abuse, including alcohol and cocaine, as well as the use of steroids, have “played a factor in his decisions and behaviour.” He said McGraw is a “quiet, polite, respectful” young man capable of contributing positively to the community when sober. The judge said it does appear that “this particular offender changes personality” when having consumed drugs or alcohol. Hebner sentenced McGraw to 120 days in jail, less 119 days credit for 80 days spent in pre-sentence custody. He is also prohibited from possessing weapons for a 10-year period and was ordered to submit a blood sample for a DNA databank used by police to help solve crimes. The judge expressed concern that a prohibition order on the consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs during the 24-month probation period could mean “possibly setting him up for a breach.” But the prosecutor described as “particularly aggravating ” the fact that, at the time of the July 2017 assaults, McGraw was on probation for a similar earlier case involving assault and being unlawfully in a residence of a previous domestic partner.

Despite having only a day remaining in the sentence he was given on Thursday, McGraw remains in custody pending another, unrelated, assault trial next month in the Ontario Court of Justice.

This particular offender changes personality.