A man convicted for stabbing a woman in the neck, partially severing her spinal cord, and then trying to intimidate witnesses to the crime will serve the rest of his sentence behind bars after his single chance at parole was revoked.
A Parole Board of Canada member made the decision last week after Aaron Craig Sutherland, 39, failed to return to his halfway house in late November 2017. He was picked up by police on January 14 after he attempted to run and then put up a struggle, according to a written decision.
Sutherland was sentenced in February 2014 to a further five years and four days in prison for a December 2012 attack at a 200-block Ruggles St. home.
The month before, he punched his ex-girlfriend in the head and threatened to burn her house down, according to the decision which noted her young daughter was in the home at the time. After he was released on bail, he told his current girlfriend he was going to kill the woman and in turn she contacted her and warned her of what Sutherland said.
Shortly afterwards, Sutherland showed up at her home, forced his way inside and grabbed three steak knives and a bread knife and then stabbed the woman. The blade was imbedded into her neck at the base of her skull and she was unable to move but was able to tell police what happened.
The knife blade was successfully removed during emergency surgery in Vancouver but the victim continued to suffer effects similar to seizures, was unable to run and lacked feeling in an arm and a leg, the court heard during sentencing.
Concerned about his behaviour while behind bars, a two-person parole board panel reluctantly granted Sutherland "one-chance" statutory release in August 2017. Just three weeks later, he was unlawfully at large after he placed pillows under the blankets in his bed and then made his escape.
Sutherland turned himself in 11 days later. Correctional Service of Canada recommended his release be revoked but due to a clerical error, a decision was not rendered in the time set out under law and he was released once more.
The day before his second disappearance, Sutherland had gone to a pharmacy and asked for a week's supply of a medication he was supposed to obtain daily, claiming his work day started too early for him to get it before work. When his parole officer told him he would still have to pick it up after work, Sutherland was disappointed.
Police suspected he was on methamphetamine at the time he was found, but Sutherland does not face any new criminal charges.
Sutherland's sentence ends on Feb. 9, 2019.
