Threats and assault lead to jail

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on December 22, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who grabbed a woman by the neck and held her against the wall in her downtown apartment building, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Jeremy Paul Haight was sentenced Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court where he pleaded guilty to one count of assault by choking. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and one count of failing to comply with release conditions, for which he received an additional 20 days in jail.
Court was told Haight, 43, was living in the same apartment building on 5 Street South when he encountered the woman in the stairway as she was leaving the building on May 17. He threatened the woman and said he was going to break into her home and steal her belongings, but she replied there was no reason to break in because she had nothing of value.
“The accused responded, ‘then I will come at you and get you in the face you b—-.’ “explained Crown Prosecutor Sheena Campbell.
The woman left the building, but when she returned about 10 minutes later, Haight was waiting for her in the stairway and said she had 24 hours before he would come for her. The woman said “you will have to wait much longer than that,” and Haight grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the wall. She was able to flee to her apartment and call police after she struck Haight in the shoulder and head with a pair of sandals she was holding.
Police officers responded but were unable to find their suspect. However, he later turned himself over to police and he was charged.
Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller said Haight claims the incident between he and the victim involved a debt, and Haight attempted to intimidate the woman. The Crown noted there is nothing in the disclosure from police to support that assertion.
The two threat charges relate to incidents last month when Haight threatened a man after the man and his wife responded to sounds of glass breaking outside their apartment. Haight, who was sitting on the fire escape, spoke to the man, who reminded Haight that he had been ordered by the court not to speak to him. When the man said he would call police, Haight said, “I should just come down there and punch you in the face.”
The following day the same man called police and said Haight was again breaching his contact conditions and that someone had pulled the fire alarm on the second floor of the Coalbanks Inn. While the man was talking to the manager of the apartment building, Haight left his apartment and said something to the man that prompted him to call police.
Police arrived to arrest Haight, but after stalling and insisting he needed to retrieve some of his belongings in his apartment and change the dressing on his injured ankle, he became belligerent, called the officers derogatory names, said he was going to beat the s–t out of the man who called police.
Mueller told court his client has experienced a number of traumas in his life, including watching his best friend commit suicide with a gun. Haight also suffers from PTSD from that incident, and from bipolar disorder, and manic depression. He also sustained a brain injury from a home invasion, and in 2010 was involved in an accident that broke several vertebrate and seven ribs.
“It actually took two and a half inches off of his height,” Mueller said.
The resulting pain led to drug use, primarily methamphetamine and cocaine.
In addition to his 50-day jail sentence, for which he was given credit for 48 days spent in pre-disposition custody, Haight will also be on probation for 12 months, during which he must abstain from alcohol and drugs, with the exception of cannabis which he uses for pain maintenance. He must be assessed and take counseling for drug abuse, anger management and psychological issues, and live with his parents in B.C.

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