Kelowna Law Courts

(KATHY MICHAELS / iNFOnews.ca)

A Lake Country man who brutally assaulted his girlfriend two years ago while high on cocaine was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.

With one and a half months of time served under his belt, Lonnie Noel Smith will see 28-and-a-half months of new time behind bars. He also will have to submit his DNA to the national database and has a lifetime firearms ban.

"The assault was violent and serious and the consequences of the assault are serious and long-lasting," the trial judge said upon handing down the sentence that reflected the recommendation made by Crown and defence in a joint submission. 

Smith, 42, didn't speak in court today, other than to plead guilty to aggravated assault and two counts of uttering threats of bodily harm.

It's the second time he's admitted to his part in the violence that occurred on April 22, 2018 that left his then-girlfriend so injured that she needed to be hospitalized for eight days. She still suffers lingering physical and psychological effects from the assault according to the agreed statement of fact read during his sentencing. 

The first guilty pleas were entered on Nov. 23, 2019 and then withdrawn the following July when it was learned that the RCMP officer who investigated the case, Const. Sean Eckland, was the subject of an internal code of conduct investigation. Eckland allegedly sent graphic and sexually explicit text messages from his personal cell phone to the victim in this case. An external investigation ensued. iNFOnews is awaiting information on the results of that investigation.

Regardless, all three crossed paths when RCMP were called to a Lake Country home to a report of a severely beaten woman and a delirious and incoherent man.

According to the statement of fact read in court today, Smith had recently returned home from a trip to the Philippines when he embarked on a coke and booze bender.

While he was high and drunk, he and the woman he attacked started questioning each other about whether they'd been faithful during the break.

Their conversation became "confrontational" the court heard, and at some point the woman was yanked from the ground by her arm, separating her shoulder. At some point, she was able to "pop her shoulder back in" and then hoisted herself onto the couch.

That set off another attack and she was hit in the face multiple times. She hit the ground and was attacked in her rib area and suffered a broken nose. She lost consciousness.

When she awoke "she was covered in blood and went into the shower," the court heard. This seemed to bother Smith and he threw her to the ground and dislocated her shoulder for the third time then, "kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her making it hard for her to breathe."

He continued to question (her) about cheating on him and choked her unconscious again, the court heard.

"His assaultive behaviour continued on and off throughout the night and over into the morning hours of April 22, 2018," according to the statement of fact.

He eventually fell asleep and woke up hours later, expressing disbelief about what he did and made suicidal comments.

Smith eventually called another friend and asked them to get help for the woman and told him that he was going to kill himself. That's when the RCMP were called in.

They arrived to find the woman "staggering around" with "multiple injuries to her face and body and holding her right arm inside her shirt."

Smith was later seen staggering around the same corner.

The guilty plea puts an end to a trial that was supposed to start Nov. 23. Other charges were dropped once the guilty plea was entered.

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