Warning: Graphic content in this story might disturb some readers.
The details of Travis Hickey's attack on a woman were so grave, both the judge and the prosecutor commented on them in provincial court Monday morning, saying it was among the most serious domestic incidents they had seen.
"I have to say, I've been in the criminal justice business for 40 years. I've been a judge for about 18," provincial court Judge Colin Flynn told Hickey. "This set of facts, where there hasn't been a death … well, they're pretty serious. I hear a lot, and they're pretty serious."
Flynn sentenced Hickey to four months in prison followed by two years of probation — with orders to undergo counselling, submit a DNA sample, stay away from firearms and have no contact with the woman and four other people — after convicting him of assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats in relation to the May 2016 attack.
"This set of facts, where there hasn't been a death … well, they're pretty serious. I hear a lot, and they're pretty serious."
— Judge Colin Flynn
Hickey, 31, had originally been facing 16 charges, but pleaded guilty to the two charges for which he was convicted as part of a plea deal. As a result, the others were withdrawn.
The court heard that the woman had given police the details of the incident about a year after it had happened, while reporting other information.
Unbeknownst to Hickey, the woman was pregnant at the time he attacked her.
She said she and Hickey had both been out with friends and had planned to meet on the night in question, but she wasn't able to get hold of him. When they finally did get together in the early hours of the morning, they began to argue and Hickey threw a video game controller at her.
After the woman tried to leave, Hickey threw a beer at her and then poured it into her purse. When she locked herself in a bathroom to escape, he kicked the door in, then grabbed her by the neck and threw her against a wall before taking her cellphone and demanding the password. When she refused to provide it, he slapped her, threw her to the ground, banged her head on the floor, put his foot on her neck, kicked her, and forced her head into a toilet bowl, holding it in the water before pulling it out, then pushing it in again.
At one point, the court heard, Hickey stood in front of the woman with a pocketknife, opening and closing it and telling her that he was going to slit her throat. The assault ended after he threw her over the stairs, she said.
"I thought he was going to kill me," the woman told police.
The woman said she laid on the floor until Hickey left, then ran outside and borrowed a stranger's phone to call a family member for help.
The woman went to her doctor the next day, and prosecutor Jude Hall read from the doctor's records in court, noting bruising on the woman's back and arms, as well as fingerprint-shaped bruises on her neck.
Hall said a pre-sentence report for Hickey indicated he had appeared to minimize the violence, calling his actions "stupid."
"For example, he said they fell down the stairs together, implying it was an accident, but the facts are otherwise," Hall said. "My concern is the extent to which he is minimizing the assault. We do a lot of these (domestic assault cases) in here and this one is particularly violent."
Hall suggested a five-month jail term for Hickey.
Hickey's lawyer, Brian Wentzell, disagreed, arguing instead for a suspended sentence — no jail time, but a period of probation, during which Hickey could be taken to jail if he breached his conditions.
Wentzell pointed out Hickey is employed and the main provider for two family members, and wants to financially support his child as well. Wentzell noted Hickey and the woman had continued their relationship for more than a year after the incident, and said Hickey had sworn off alcohol since he was charged. Wentzell pointed to a section in the pre-sentence report indicating Hickey was remorseful for what he had done and understood the woman must have been humiliated to go out in public with the bruises he had caused her.
Flynn told Hickey he had taken the fact he had no prior criminal record into account, as well as his employment and his "not extremely positive but relatively positive" pre-sentence report. The judge stressed, however, the serious nature of the assault.
"I do not think a suspended sentence is appropriate, and I'm sure Mr. Wentzell is not surprised by my comments on that because of the nature of these offences," Flynn said, ordering Hickey to be taken directly into custody.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
