Judge critical of man during sentencing
By Delon Shurtz on November 25, 2021.
A 42-year-old man who knocked a woman to the ground then struck her in the head while she lay there, is not much of a man, a judge told the offender.
“It’s not very manly to strike a woman who is on the ground,” Judge John Maher told Jesse Aaron Tabor during a sentencing hearing Monday in Lethbridge provincial court.
Tabor pleaded guilty to charges of assault, threats to cause death or bodily harm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and possession of stolen property under $5,000. He was fined a total of $600 for the two possession charges, sentenced to one day in jail for the threats and assault charges, and placed on probation for one year.
Although the fines and jail sentence were jointly recommended by defence and the Crown, Maher said he would have considered a harsher sentence if not for Tabor’s efforts to rehabilitate himself.
On April 14, 2020 Lethbridge police responded to a report of an assault on 1 Avenue North, where a man was seen striking a woman.
The woman, Tabor’s girlfriend at the time, told police she and Tabor were arguing when Tabor slapped her, knocking her to the ground. He continued to strike her on the head and face a few more times while she was curled up on the ground. Tabor left the area but was apprehended shortly afterward a block away.
On Oct. 5, 2020, police received a complaint from a woman who said her son’s bicycle had been stolen while he was inside a convenience store on the westside. When he walked out of the store he saw someone riding away on the bike.
Police reviewed video surveillance which showed the accused riding the bike, but he was not immediately picked up. More than four months later, on Feb. 24 of this year, officers went to a residence on 23 Street North where they found several bicycles that had previously been reported stolen. Among them was the bike stolen from the convenience store.
The weapon charge stems from an incident last June while police were patrolling 13 Street North at about 2 a.m. An officer saw a number of individuals, including Tabor, yelling and arguing with each other in a parking lot. Tabor was waiving an extended baton at the group. At the time he was on release conditions not to possess any weapons.
Two months later police responded to a complaint that Tabor was yelling at a woman from outside her home on 16 Street North and demanding to see his girlfriend, who no longer lived there. The woman refused to let Tabor in her home, and he threatened her.
“He called her a rat and told her she was dead, that people were going to be after her and he was going to kill her,” Crown Prosecutor Dawn Janecke told court.
Lethbridge lawyer Claudia Connolly explained her client has struggled for years with addictions, and is currently in a residential treatment program. She said once the program concludes, he plans to continue with his “sober living situation.” She pointed out Tabor made the decision on his own to receive treatment.
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They all “say” they are going to live the sober life to reduce their sentence. Not exactly sure what the Judge meant by this statement?
“It’s not very manly to strike a woman who is on the ground,” Judge John Maher told Jesse Aaron Tabor
Its never okay to strike a woman, period! It sounds like the Judge is saying “on the ground” no, standing…well maybe?
Sure hope this is a misquote ,if not, so much for clear instructions to some one with a mental incapacitation?
yes, the judge’s statement suggests a poor take on violence, period, let alone that his utterance hearkens back to the era of chauvinism.
what is pathetic here is the utter lack of respect for victims of violence. the 1 day?! of jail is neither enough of a penalty nor amounts to an iota of deterrence. but, i guess if one is just beating on their woman, eh?