120 days time served for assault where homophobic slurs made
By Peggy Revell on January 31, 2018.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell A sentence of 120 days time served was handed down Tuesday for a drunken assault where homophobic slurs were uttered. Kalab Wolde entered a guilty plea at the Medicine Hat Provincial Court to the assault that occurred on Dec. 23, 2016. Facts read into court stated that on that date, the victim stepped outside their motel room for a cigarette, and observed an argument occurring between Wolde and another man. The argument ended, and Wolde approached the victim, told him that they kill gays in his country, called the victim a “homo,” then swung and hit the victim in the face, injuring him. The victim went back inside his room and called police. Wolde is from Ethiopia — the country the man referenced in his statement about killing gay people — and defence counsel stated the accused was “extremely drunk” at the time, and so did not remember what happened. “I appreciate on the night in question you were intoxicated,” said Judge Eric Brooks, but called Wolde’s words that night an aggravating factor that would warrant a higher sentence, save there being a joint submission between Crown and defence. “We cannot accept that type of behaviour that targets a group: male, female, homosexual, transgender, tall, short, black, white.” Wolde is currently serving a 23-month jail sentence for cocaine trafficking but had pre-trial time applied toward this assault sentence, and an additional 30-day sentence for him failing to repay $700, as required by the court for a prior conviction for theft. 10
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