A Regina man was given prison time for assaulting staff after he was asked to wear a face mask inside a business.
Andrew Edward Russell was given 120 days in jail for assault causing bodily harm, 30 days concurrent for uttering a threat to cause bodily harm, and 90 days concurrent for assaulting three people.
“I find that the principle of general deterrence is paramount to send a message to those who believe that they can attack and threaten frontline workers over government health orders, which they did not create but are required to enforce,” said Judge Karl P. Bazin in Swift Current Provincial Court May 28.
“A jail term for the criminal acts against the frontline workers is required to bring home the message that society, through the courts, will not tolerate such acts against entirely innocent people.”
Crown Prosecutor Curtis Wiebe sought a four-month prison sentence. Defence lawyers Carl Swenson and Nicole Bree asked the court for a 12-18 month jail term to be served in the community.
Judge Bazin said in some cases, deterrence and denunciation could be accomplished through conditional sentence orders served in the community but not this time.
“In this matter, I find that general deterrence would not be achieved by a conditional sentence. The assaults, threats, and bodily harm, which Mr. Russell perpetrated, are an extension of people challenging and confronting frontline workers, who are only doing their job. They did not put in place the health orders, but they are increasingly taking the brunt of anger from certain individuals who believe that the law does not apply to them.”
The court heard that Russell went to the Pioneer Co-op Home Centre to make a purchase and was wearing a plastic face shield rather than a mask that complies with the health order. When he entered, a young woman at the entrance asked him to wear a mask.
“Over this simple request Mr. Russell became enraged,” said Judge Bazin. “He is not a small person, being 5-foot-9 and 220 pounds. He began to yell and scream at the young woman. She called her manager, and when the manager came to tell Mr. Russell that he had to wear a mask or leave, Mr. Russell’s anger increased. He started to punch the manager in the face. A third employee, a middle aged woman, came to help. Mr. Russell punched her in the side of the head and shoved her into the counter.
“A fourth employee came to help and he was pushed and shoved backwards. A fifth employee approached to help, and Mr. Russell threatened that he would assault him as well.”
At this point Russell left the store.
A sixth employee, a 62-year-old man, followed Russell outside into the parking lot to try to identify him, his vehicle, and get a license plate.
Russell attacked him and punched him 20 to 21 times in the face. He punched him in the chest and tried sweeping out the employee’s legs. The employee was taken to the hospital with significant injuries. He has a suspected concussion and facial injuries with one tooth cutting the inside of his mouth.
“It is significant that this was a prolonged event,” said Judge Bazin. “Mr. Russell had left the Co-op Home Centre when he attacked the sixth employee in the parking lot. He had time to think about what he had just done in the store when he yelled at one and then attacked, assaulted and threatened four employees in the store. He instead attacks the sixth employee.”
Russell’s defence told the court that he saw “red” as soon as he was asked to wear a mask and went “postal.” They said Russell was suffering from COVID fatigue and he lives in Regina, which recently had been under more restrictive health orders. They argued the assaults were out of character for Russell who had a full-time job delivering mail daily between Regina and Swift Current.
