Suspended sentence for wrench-swinging incident at Echo Dale

By Peggy Revell on February 8, 2018.

prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell

It was a 12-month suspended sentence for a man who brought out a wrench during a brawl at Echo Dale park this summer.

The incident occurred on July 12, 2017 at Echo Dale and involved 15 to 20 people, the court heard Wednesday during a sentencing for the 24-year-old man who pled guilty to assault with a weapon. The conflict between the people started near the water, then headed into the parking lot, the Crown said, eventually becoming a physical altercation between several people.

It was at this point that the accused pulled out a 14-inch silver metal wrench and began swinging it.

In doing so, he struck another person four times —but this person happened to be someone who was attempting to remove another person from the fight, and pull people apart.

Crown noted the situation is complicated, and that there “seems to be some element of self-defence” — but that still doesn’t excuse the use of the wrench.

Duty counsel stated that for the accused it was a 12-against-one situation, and the man didn’t realize the victim was trying to intervene. The incident escalated in part because people were being threatening toward the accused’s spouse, duty counsel added for further context.

The suspended sentence means the accused will spend 12-months on probation, instead of serving custody. The judge also ordered the man be required to perform 40 hours of community service.

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