A 49-year-old man who sent two people to hospital with serious head injuries following a SA国际影视传媒渧iciousSA国际影视传媒� axe attack in Fort Good Hope last year received a five-year prison sentence Thursday.
In a SA国际影视传媒渇it of uncontrolled rage,SA国际影视传媒� Christopher Shae used the blunt end of an axe to strike his two victims SA国际影视传媒� a man and a woman SA国际影视传媒� in the head on the night of Sept. 15, 2018, said prosecutor Jill Andrews.
Both victims were flown to YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 Stanton Territorial Hospital for medical treatment. The male sustained a fractured skull. Shae pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. HeSA国际影视传媒檚 been in custody since his arrest shortly after the assault.
Neither of his victims remember the attack SA国际影视传媒� an assault that didnSA国际影视传媒檛 result in death SA国际影视传媒渙nly by pure luck,SA国际影视传媒� said Andrews.
Shae, who was virtually homelessness at the time, carried out the attack after waking to see his two snow machines engulfed in flames.
Shae believed the male victim was responsible for setting the fire. His lawyer, Robin Parker, said the machines SA国际影视传媒渞epresented hope for the future,SA国际影视传媒� for her impoverished client SA国际影视传媒� who planned to end his hunger by using them to trap and hunt in the summer.
Shae, the court heard, picked up two axes and walked to the victimsSA国际影视传媒� yard, perpetrating the violent attack, which only stopped when a bystander, brandishing a stick, intervened.
Shae left the scene, allegedly telling a witness he had SA国际影视传媒渏ust taken two souls.SA国际影视传媒� He was intoxicated and has no memory of the brutal assault, said Parker.
Shae has a lengthy criminal record. HeSA国际影视传媒檚 been convicted of 36 offences since 1989, committing over a dozen violent crimes, including assault with a weapon and sexual assault, a record that shows a SA国际影视传媒渃ontinued pattern of violent behaviour spanning almost 30 years,SA国际影视传媒� said Andrews.
At the time of the attack, Shae was on probation from a 2017 conviction. He was subject to a lifetime firearms and weapons ban.
NWT Supreme Court Justice Andrew Mahar, who called ShaeSA国际影视传媒檚 criminal record SA国际影视传媒渃ause for grave concern,SA国际影视传媒� accepted a joint sentencing recommendation of five years from the Crown and the defence.
Mahar said ShaeSA国际影视传媒檚 actions were vicious and frightening, adding the crime would be even more egregious if it had not been committed in the context of the offender, hungry and homeless, losing the property that held so much promise to him.
SA国际影视传媒楶overty, neglect and hungerSA国际影视传媒�
Both ShaeSA国际影视传媒檚 parents were residential school survivors who struggled with extreme alcohol addiction, a problem the offender himself inherited and wrestled with for years. His childhood was marked by SA国际影视传媒減overty, neglect and hunger," said Parker. He experienced abuse in the foster care system.
SA国际影视传媒淚 am very sorry for what I did,SA国际影视传媒� apologized Shae in court. SA国际影视传媒淚 have a lot of regrets.SA国际影视传媒� Letters written to the victims by Shae were filed in court. Victim impact statements were not submitted.
With credit for time spent in remand custody SA国际影视传媒� amounting to one-and-a-half years SA国际影视传媒� Shae has three-and-a-half years left to serve. He must submit a DNA sample and has handed another firearms ban, a 10-year restriction to run concurrently to his existing lifetime ban.
Accepting that Shae SA国际影视传媒� who plans to live off the land once released SA国际影视传媒� requires firearms to SA国际影视传媒渘ot be hungry,SA国际影视传媒� Mahar allowed an application to be made for a sustenance exemption. That only means Shae can apply to be exempt from the ban.
