Woman jailed for 28 months for South Okanagan stabbing

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Amanda Sach was one of the three Okanagan residents involved in a violent altercation in Kaleden in Jan. 2019.

Three Okanagan residents involved in a violent altercation in 2019 which left a woman in hospital with stab wounds were sentenced in Kelowna court on Monday.

On the morning of Jan. 4, 2019, Amanda Sach, Queenie Kruger and William Hill visited a house in Kaleden, looking for Cheryl Aeichele, who they believed to be a police informant. 

At the time, Aeichele was at her boyfriend Daniel Burgess' house, which Kruger and Sach "pushed their way into" before locking Aeichele in the downstairs washroom. 

Court heard Sach struck Aeichele above her right eye, and briefly left the room before returning with a knife and stabbing her.

Aeichele could hear her boyfriend being assaulted upstairs by Hill and another male after Burgess confronted the intruders while she was trapped in the washroom by Kruger.

Crown prosecutor David Ruse said Sach "went white" after noticing blood from Aeichele's stab wound, telling others in the house they were not targets in the assault, and to "get her to hospital." 

Aeichele was taken to Penticton Regional Hospital by another member of the household and remained there for several days recovering from her wounds that included an associated fracture of her rib. 

"This was a serious injury that could have had fatal consequences," says Ruse. "If it had hit a major artery or vein, the victim could have easily bled out." 

Ruse told the court Aeichele now suffers from multiple disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and struggles with anxiety and depression. 

Sach, who appeared via video conference from Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge, has been in custody since Jun. 11, 2019, and has 41 prior convictions to her name.

On Monday afternoon, the 30-year-old pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for the stabbing.

A joint submission between Crown and defence counsel was presented to Justice Catherine Wedge requesting an additional 96 days in prison for Sach, with after credit for time already served, provides a 28-month sentence. Twelve months of probation, for all three offenders, was also included. 

Probationary terms included a ban on possession of weapons, no contact with any of the victims, and counselling programs related to substance abuse and/or anger management. 

Defence counsel Michael Newcombe told the court Sach has managed to live a life clean of drugs and alcohol during her incarceration, completing a diploma as a residential care aid.

The mother-of-two hopes to complete a diploma as a licensed practical nurse upon her release, and "get herself in a position where she can be a positive role model for her kids." 

Hill, 30, was charged with assault causing bodily harm, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of simple assault and was sentenced to one year probation.

Hill lives with his parents in Lumby and has gained stable employment since the offence, also achieving sobriety from a heroin addiction which defence counsel Justin Dosanjh says "largely coincides" with his criminal record. 

Kruger pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful confinement and was also sentenced to 12-months of probation.

Following the death of her child's father, 32-year-old Kruger has "turned her life around" for the sake of her seven-month-old baby, defence counsel Michael Patterson said in his submissions Monday. 

"She has experienced herself what living clean can accomplish ... free of alcohol, free of drugs for her child's sake."