A New Year’s Eve party that ended in bloodshed for a local teen resulted in a 10-month sentence and year of probation for his attacker.
Jake Allan MacIntyre pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated assault on Tuesday in Fort Saskatchewan.
Dozens of teens attended the party at 37 Oakridge Drive on New Year’s Eve in 2008 when shortly before midnight a fight broke out between two groups of friends.
MacIntyre jumped into the fray and produced a knife when he noticed two teens beating up on one of his friends.
As the fight escalated, MacIntyre plunged the knife into one of the other teens, stabbing him in the torso. The young man’s injuries were severe — the knife hit his liver and he had to be rushed to hospital following the attack.
Crown Prosecutor Jeff Morrison said the party descended into chaos after MacIntyre stabbed his victim and partygoers left, as did MacIntyre and his friends. Police found MacIntyre shortly after they arrived on scene.
The 10-month term was presented to Judge John Maher as a joint submission from the Crown and defence. The Crown also agreed to withdraw three other charges against MacIntyre.
Defence lawyer Felicity Hunter told the court that while the sentence might appear light it was fair given the overall circumstances of the case.
Hunter said the police had no forensic evidence, unreliable witnesses and the Crown would have had a very difficult time proving its case.
“The witnesses were drunk, drunker and drunkest and obviously very unreliable.”
She said photos from the party indicated massive amounts of alcohol had been consumed and several of the witness statements contradicted each other.
MacIntyre has been in custody since his arrest, but was serving time on an unrelated charge and his time will not be used as credit against the new 10-month term.
The 10 months will be served concurrently to the term he is already serving, which has only a few weeks remaining.
Hunter said MacIntyre had not enjoyed his time in federal custody and was eager to turn his life around. Despite the lengthy time in jail, he still had work lined up after his release and had even married while in custody.
He planned to live with his new wife when he was released in his father-in-law’s home.
The original proposed sentence did not call for the probationary term, but Maher suggested its inclusion, not as a punishment to MacIntyre but to give him access to support.
Right before Maher handed down his sentence, MacIntyre apologized to the court and his victim and said he didn’t want to return to jail.
“These are supposed to be the prime years of my life and I don’t want to waste them in jail.”
Maher said he should be aware the evening could have turned out much worse for him and for his victim.
“I am sure you understand how lucky you are that you are not facing a manslaughter charge.”
Maher also imposed a 10-year weapons ban and a DNA order, requiring MacIntyre to submit a sample to the national registry.
