A man who has been described as a chronic offender with a serious drug problem has been sentenced to seven years in prison for stabbing a woman in the neck, partly severing her spinal cord, and then trying to intimidate witnesses to the crime.
Aaron Craig Sutherland, 35, thought he had killed the woman, the court heard during a sentencing hearing Thursday for the Dec. 27, 2012 attack at a 200 block Ruggles St. home, but emergency surgery in Vancouver successfully removed the knife blade.
The victim, however, continues to suffer effects similar to seizures, is unable to run and lacks feeling in an arm and a leg as 15 per cent of her spinal cord was cut. The attack also left her angry, anxious and afraid to leave her home and she remains unemployed as a consequence.
A month before the attack, Sutherland was arrested for threatening his then-girlfriend and on Dec. 24, 2012, was released from custody on conditions that included no contact with her. Three days later, the girlfriend called the home where Sutherland was staying to say, according to the person who answered the phone, she was throwing his possessions into the street.
An enraged Sutherland, who had been drinking, was high on methampthetamine and had taken some anabolic steroids, said he was going to kill the girlfriend. As he was on the way to her home, the person Sutherland was staying with while out on bail, called to warn her.
When Sutherland arrived, some friends who had been drinking, let him into the house. Sutherland wanted to speak to the girlfriend but he became angry and the victim, the girlfriend and a man intervened and tried to push him out of the house.
Warning them they didn't know who they were dealing with, he went into the kitchen and retrieved three steak knives and a bread knife, returned to the living room, and stabbed the victim in the neck.
The girlfriend, meanwhile, fled the home but came back after remembering her daughter was still there. She then took off once more with Sutherland in pursuit saying "Dee, go back to your house, I just killed somebody," the court heard.
Police were called to the home to find the victim lying on the floor in a puddle of blood and the blade of a steak knife lodged into the back of her neck at the base of her skull. She was unable to move but was able to tell police who stabbed her.
Sutherland was arrested about a half hour later in the 2100 block of Upland Street after he took a taxi to the location. Police seized bloody clothing from Sutherland and photographed a bloody hand.
Nonetheless, Sutherland denied committing the crime, claiming he was at home the whole time and the allegations were fabricated.
While in custody at Prince George Regional Correctiional Centre, Sutherland's girlfriend kept in contact with him through Facebook and invited him to call her on the telephone. Although they expressed their love for each other, Sutherland also threatened to stab people in their throats if they testified against him and suggested a friend who was about to get out of jail would go around to "get everyone's story straight."
At the encouragement of his father, Sutherland had been consuming drugs and alcohol from a young age and from since he can remember has suffered from paranoia and anxiety issues, the court heard.
In passing sentence, provincial court judge Michael Gray adopted a joint submission from Crown prosecutor and defence counsel. He also told Sutherland his problems run deeper than drugs and alcohol, noting an extensive criminal record and past failed attempts to change his ways.
"I view it as a deep-seated pathology that will take many years to resolve," Gray said.
Prior to sentencing, Sutherland apologized for his actions.
"I'm deeply sorry for the pain that I've caused this person," Sutherland said. "I know it wasn't fair to them and my actions were deeply uncalled for...I'm fully in remorse for what I've done and I just wish the person was here to hear me apologize."
Sutherland said he needs to get help for his substance abuse "and that's what I'm going to do, to take this time to reflect on that and use that to get all the help [I can.]"
Sutherland pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a charge of attempted murder was stayed. He was sentenced to six years on the aggravated assault charge and a further year for the threats he issued while in jail.
Sutherland received credit for the 13 months and 11 days he has spent in custody, meaning his sentence will continue for another five years and 11 months.
