A Saskatoon judge who sentenced a man to four years in prison for stabbing another man in the neck and then threatening him in court says it’s the kind of sentence that “has some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Although it does not diminish the severity of the attack, Justice Gerald Allbright said there was clearly a history between Glenn Lindsay Watcheson and the man he drunkenly stabbed on Feb. 16, 2015. Watcheson believed the victim had taken some sort of inappropriate action toward a friend of his, Allbright said Thursday at Court of Queen’s Bench.
He sentenced Watcheson to three years for aggravated assault and one year for uttering a threat to cause bodily harm, assaulting a peace officer and intimidating a witness.
The latter three charges stem from Watcheson’s preliminary hearing in November 2015, when he threatened the victim, who was testifying, and assaulted a sheriff. He received a one-year sentence on each of the charges, to be served concurrently with each other but consecutive to the aggravated assault charge.
The Crown had argued for up to seven years on all the offences, while the defence argued for a total of two to three years.
Despite Watcheson’s “unfortunate” criminal record, which contains 40 prior convictions — considered an aggravating factor in sentencing — Allbright also took into account Watcheson’s disadvantaged upbringing.
He said the candid discussion they had about Watcheson’s background during sentencing submissions in June played a role in his sentencing decision. Allbright granted him credit of a day and half for each day he spent on remand, leaving Watcheson with just under three years left to serve.
“I think you have the ability to do something very productive with your life,” Allbright said.
