Photo: Castanet

A Kamloops man has avoided jail after levelling two violent assaults a few weeks apart — a bloody attack outside a Halloween party followed by a harrowing incident in which he beat his ex-girlfriend and dragged her back to his vehicle after she attempted to run away.

The 33-year-old man cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban put in place to protect the identity of his ex-girlfriend.

He was sentenced on Tuesday in Kamloops provincial court after pleading guilty to one count each of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Halloween slashing

Court heard the man was first charged following a bloody altercation outside a Halloween party just before midnight on Oct. 31, 2021.

He was confronted after being kicked out of the party, and he used a blade to open a large gash on the back of the man who got in his face.

The victim, who was described in court as the aggressor in the post-party altercation, received more than 40 stitches. The attacker was injured in the melee and left with a concussion.

North Shore beatdown

Less than a month later, on Nov. 24, 2021, the man found himself in trouble with police again, this time after an alarming incident in broad daylight on a busy North Kamloops street.

Court heard the man’s ex-girlfriend jumped from the back seat of his moving vehicle in the 200-block of Tranquille Road. He chased her into an alley and beat her.

“[He] chased after her, caught her and grabbed her by her neck and her hair, swinging at her and hitting her,” Crown prosecutor Chris Balison said in court.

"She was dragged from the alley back to the vehicle.”

'Traumatized' by attack

A passerby watched the scene unfold and phoned 911. Balison said police were there a few moments later.

The man’s ex suffered a long list of injuries, including broken teeth, a concussion and bruising.

“She says she was traumatized and had trouble sleeping, nightmares and flashbacks,” Balison said. "She feels that people she should trust betrayed her.”

Defence lawyer Sheldon Tate said the man was defending himself in the Halloween incident, after which he was left with a concussion of his own.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Lorianna Bennett went along with a joint submission for a 21-month conditional sentence, the first 10 months of which will be served under house arrest. For the length of his sentence, the man will be prohibited from having any contact with either victim, possessing weapons and using drugs or alcohol.

He was also issued a 10-year firearms ban and ordered to submit a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.