A Corner Brook man who bit a corrections officer in December 2016 has been sentenced to a four-month conditional sentence.
William (Billy) Woolridge, 44, was being processed by corrections officers at the Corner Brook lockup when the incident occurred on Dec. 22, 2016.
In convicting him this past September, Judge Wayne Gorman said Woolridge was not acting in defense of person and property when he bit the officer.
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He was also convicted of breach of an undertaking for failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
Woolridge, who has issues with his sight and hearing, was visibly agitated during the sentencing hearing.
While the Crown sought a sentence of three to six months in jail, Judge Wayne Gorman accepted Woolridge’s request that he be able to serve any jail sentence conditionally, as house arrest.
As part of his sentence Woolridge must comply with all directions from his supervisor, attend all counselling arranged or recommended by his supervisor and commencing on Feb. 1 must remain inside his residence at all times except as allowed by his supervisor in writing, to have contact with a social service agency or worker, to search for or move into a new residence, daily between 1-5 p.m. and for the purpose of facilitating a move to Ontario.
Gorman did not impose a period of probation, but ordered that Woolridge be prohibited from possessing any prohibited weapon or ammunition for a period of 10 years.
Woolridge still has an outstanding charge for failure to comply with a probation order before the court.
The two-year order was put in place on March 22, 2017, and Woolridge failed to meet with a probation officer as required
Woolridge disagreed with the facts presented by Crown attorney Adam Sparkes, but said he wanted to plead guilty to the charge. “I just want to get it over and done with.”
Gorman set the charge for trial on March 7.
