FILE PHOTO
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
February 22, 2016 - 4:32 PM
PENTICTON - The sentencing hearing at Penticton court today for a Princeton man facing weapons charges was adjourned when said he had been brutally assaulted while in jail.
“I was told not to blow my nose too hard or my eye would pop out," Jesse Lawrence Williams told the court, Feb. 22. He said it was the advice given to him following the alledged assault at the Kamloops Regional Corrrectional Centre which left him with extensive facial injuries.
He also complained of a subsequent lack of medical treatment at the regional jail.
Williams has been in custody since April 26, 2015, and was to be sentenced for breach of probation and two weapons charges, but his story gave cause for Judge Gregory Koturbash to adjourn the case to allow more time for facts to be gathered.
Defence lawyer James Pennington said his client still requires surgery for the facial injuries.
Pennington said his client had been wearing flip-flops the night before the assault, when noise from the footwear resulted in a brief but heated exchange of words between his client and another inmate.
The following morning, someone entered Williams’ cell and assaulted him.
“He can’t go to the institution and rat out the guy who did it,” Pennington said, adding his client told officials he fell from the top bunk of his cell and did a face plant on the floor.
Williams said the orbital bone around one eye was “shattered into a zillion pieces.” He was advised not to blow his nose too hard or his eye will pop out.
Crown prosecutor John Swanson challenged the accusations, saying he would be “flabbergasted” if there was any truth at all to the allegations.
“Evidence is going to have to be called,” he said.
Judge Koturbash adjourned the hearing to allow defence more time to gather the facts regarding William’s alleged assault and lack of medical treatment.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016