Dillon Bourgeois and Paxton Sheahan will find out Thursday morning how much longer they will be in prison.
The two 25-year-old Corner Brook men have been in custody since their arrests in the days following a knife attack on Jonathan Park in the fall of 2015.
The two were supposed to go to trial on attempted murder charges in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador earlier this week, but avoided trial by pleading guilty to the offences of aggravated assault they had also been charged with in exchange for the attempted murder charges being withdrawn by the Crown.
They were back in court in Corner Brook for sentencing submissions Wednesday morning. Crown attorney Alana Dwyer has asked Bourgeois, who did the stabbing and has a more extensive criminal record than Sheahan, be given five years in prison. She asked that Sheahan, who restrained Park during the assault that left Park with serious injuries, be handed a three-year sentence.
Sheahan’s lawyer, Jonathan Regan, did not object to the Crown’s recommendation for his client. Karen Rehner, who is representing Bourgeois, asked that he be given a four-year sentence.
Both men are expected to be given a day and a half credit for every day they have served prior to their sentencing. While that would amount to three years served for Sheahan, he was convicted of an unrelated offence while on remand and will still have to serve 166 days if the presiding judge accepts the Crown’s submission.
Justice Garrett Handrigan will render his decision Thursday morning.
