(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
August 06, 2013 - 4:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - A TRU international student found guilty of stabbing another student in the eye with a pool cue at a nightclub last year is expected to be sentenced in November.
Yousef Almotairi was found guilty of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after an incident at Cactus Jacks Nightclub in Kamloops last November.
Almotairi, 26, was caught on camera thrusting a pool cue into the eye of 28-year-old Abdulaziz Alhedaib, another international student known to him through school and mutual friends.
During last month's trial in Kamloops, defence lawyer Michelle Stanford said Almotairi lacked criminal intent during the incident and said the jab was a simple reflex. However a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled earlier this month that the offences were committed intentionally.
Alhedaib spent five months in hospital following the assault and suffers partial paralysis to one side of his body.
He has not returned to school and is unsure when he will.
As for Almotairi, Canada Border Services Agency told InfoTel News that when a foreign national, such as Almotairi, is convicted of a serious offence within the country, they are reviewed with the potential for deportation.
Agency spokesperson Stefanie Wudel said in an email that it is not a decision taken lightly, but would not comment on this case specifically.
"We will not speculate on possible outcomes," Wudel said.
A list of possible reasons to be deported can be found online and includes: 'engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada.'
If determined to be criminally inadmissible to remain in Canada, Almotairi would be turned over to the agency once criminal matters were dealt with, including any potential sentence.
Sentencing has been tentatively set for Nov. 18, 2013.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013