A Vernon man was sentenced to two years probation for an assault that occurred near Sicamous last year.
Martin Erickson, 64, appeared in the Salmon Arm Law Courts on Tuesday, March 12 for sentencing after previously having pleaded guilty to the charge of assault with a weapon against his brother on May 28, 2023.
Summarizing the case, Crown counsel Danika Heighes explained that Erickson had attended his brother’s residence that evening and, upon seeing some items he claimed were his, became verbally abusive, grabbed a guitar and swung it like a baseball bat at his brother’s head before fleeing the property.
In the victim impact statement, Heighes said that in addition to a gash on the head and the fear of being attacked again, the incident had significant emotional impact and he struggles with the fact that “my own brother could do this harm to me.”
Erickson, who admitted to struggling with substance abuse issues in the past, said he’d been six months sober at the time of the assault and just snapped upon seeing his alleged property at his brother’s. Judge Mariane Armstrong said that pointed to anger management issues as the underlying cause of the assault and as such, extended the initial sentence from 18 months to 24 months.
“We’re going to make this sentence a bit longer to reflect the violent nature of this assault,” she told the court.
Armstrong added that Erickson can’t have any contact with the victim, or come within 100 metres of him, his home or anywhere he might be. He also has a 10 year weapons prohibition, counselling as determined by his probation officer and a victim surcharge of $100. As Erickson has no prior record, the judge made the sentence a conditional discharge, which won’t result in a criminal record as long as he doesn’t breach conditions or commit any other crimes in the two years.
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