Man sentenced for assaulting pregnant spouse and again later while she was holding their baby

Editor's note: This story contains disturbing details. 

An NWT  man convicted of two counts of assault against his partner, who in one instance was holding their baby, was given 12 months of probation and a suspended sentence on Aug. 4.  

During the first assault, on Feb. 29, the man's partner was pregnant with their child, Crown prosecutor Blair MacPherson told NWT Territorial Court in Yellowknife. The woman got up from bed and tripped over some cords on the floor of the bedroom. When her stumble caused the television and a computer to fall over, the offender became angry, grabbed her by her suspenders and pushed her into a wall. 

He then told her, “If you love me you won’t charge me,” the court heard. 

In May, while the man was still under court orders to not have contact with his spouse on account of the first incident, he went to her home. 

She answered the door and realized that he was intoxicated only after letting him inside the house.

Holding their two-week-old baby, she told him that she was going to call the police. He became violent. He grabbed her, pushed her into the wall and threw her on the floor repeatedly. 

Throughout the altercation, the mother tried to maneuver her body to protect the baby.

While he assaulted her, the man told his spouse that the child was a mistake. He said if she called the police he would kill himself. 

The offender confirmed to the court that these were the facts.

On a joint submission between the lawyers, Judge Donovan Molloy accepted the recommendation of a suspended sentence and 12-months probation. 

In his year of probation, the offender is instructed to seek counselling, complete 30 hours of community service and he will not be permitted contact with his spouse or their child. 

The maximum sentence for an assault conviction is five years. 

The suspended sentence puts final sentencing on hold while the convicted man completes his probation. If he doesn't comply with the conditions of probation, he may be re-sentenced for the original charges, as well as for any breaches of probation. 

The joint submission by the lawyers was made in light of the fact that this is the offender's “first conviction for acts of violence and he has nothing related to violence on his record,” MacPherson said.