(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - A man who said he and his girlfriend had a consensual fight which caused him to head butt, choke and bite her is now convicted of assault after a provincial court judge said she didn’t believe his testimony as an excuse for his violence.

Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Stella Frame called Ricky Alexander James August’s version of events ‘reconstructed, lacks objective support and comes against a backdrop of an uncertain memory’ before convicting him of assault on Nov. 13. 

The incident before the courts started Dec. 2, 2014, when August’s girlfriend tried to break up with him. After she asked him to leave their apartment is when the argument became violent, Frame said.

“(She) went into her room to go to bed. Mr. August followed her. She was on the bed and he came up behind her. The argument was continuing. She said Mr. August became angrier, grabbed her by her neck and threw her on the bed, choking her. He swore at her and called her names. She said she was trying to get his hands off her neck. He head butted her and bit her face,” Frame said in her reasons for judgment.

August claimed the reason for the argument was because his girlfriend called him pathetic and made fun of his schizophrenia, Frame said. August’s lawyer, Genevieve Eliany, argued the fight was consensual.

"He claimed that he lost his nerve, leaned toward her and hit her in the head with his head. By losing his nerve, he meant losing his temper,” Frame said.

In his testimony, August admitted the two were drinking before the argument broke out. He said he is not supposed to mix alcohol with his prescribed medication.

"He acknowledged he did not have to push her away as hard as he had and that he could have walked out the door. He agreed that the bite could have happened as described by (his girlfriend) and acknowledged that his memory was not as good because of the alcohol he had consumed. Later in his cross examination he was insistent that he did not bite her. I do not believe him,” Frame said. "There may even have been consensual pushing and shoving. However, what occurred in the bedroom was not a consensual fight coming as it did with such violence and disproportionate force after being asked to leave."

He will be sentenced at a future date.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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