No jail time for man who pleaded guilty to Bridesville beating | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Penticton News

No jail time for man who pleaded guilty to Bridesville beating

A former resident of Bridesville faces seven months house arrest following sentencing in Penticton court today, Oct. 24, 2016, for his part in the beating of a Bridesville man.

PENTICTON - A man who participated in an assault stemming from an ongoing dispute between his employer and a Bridesville resident narrowly escaped jail in Penticton court yesterday, Oct. 24.

Jonathan Jacob Taylor-Miller pleaded guilty to assault, assault with a weapon and mischief in connection with an incident that took place in the small community of Bridesville about 35 kilometres east of Osoyoos on Highway 3.

Crown Prosecutor Andrew Vandersluys told court police were called to the community on Aug. 31, 2015 at 3:45 p.m. following the victim’s complaints of assault. Upon arrival, police were told by the victim that Taylor-Miiler and his employer had tried to break his legs.

The victim had facial bruises and was walking with a noticeable limp, police observed.

Security video showed the incident began when the victim began spraying water from a garden hose on cardboard that Taylor-Miller and his employer were loading into a truck on the property next door to the victim’s.

Taylor-Miller then jumped the victim’s fence, tackled the victim and beat him with a three-foot length of 2 X 4 lumber handed him by his boss.

Both Taylor-Miller and his employer were arrested on assault charges.

The victim suffered bruises to his face, abdomen and legs, and a bloody eye. His cell phone was destroyed and Taylor-Miller was also shown in the video ripping cables out of the camera just before the transmission was lost.

Vandersluys called the crime “a vicious assault” and said there was no reason for Taylor-Miller to have involved himself in what was an ongoing dispute between his employer and the victim. He also noted Taylor-Miller’s attempt to conceal the crime by pulling the video cables apart.

He asked Judge Meg Shaw to consider a four to six month jail sentence followed by 18 to 24 months probation.

Defence lawyer Paul Varga told court his client had no criminal record and was remorseful about what he had done.  Varga said his client arrived in Bridesville by chance and ended up in a situation of dependency with respect to his employer. He said Taylor-Miller was now a resident of Olds, Alberta, where he was working full time at Canadian Tire and had a family support.

Varga suggested a conditional sentence, adding his client’s actions were simply “mistakes” and not based on behavioural patterns. Taylor-Miller had also received favourable endorsement for rehabilitation from his pre-sentence report.

Taylor-Miller apologized to his victim in court, as well as to the residents of Bridesville, saying the victim did not deserve the brutality put to him.

Judge Shaw, noting the best result of a crime for a community is rehabilitation, said she would ordinarily be considering a jail sentence for a considerable length of time.

She agreed to a conditional sentence of seven months followed by 15 months probation.

“It is not an easy decision because of the nature of the attack,” she said, giving Taylor-Miller a strict set of probationary terms including staying away from Bridesville, the victim and his former employer. He must serve 40 hours community service, was given a five year weapons ban and must comply with a DNA order. He must also make a personal apology to the victim.

Taylor-Miller’s former employer faces similar charges and is scheduled to appear in court on April 17, 2017.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2016
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