Lethbridge Herald - Hefty sentence in assault case
"Despite having one of the most violent criminal records a Court of Queen’s Bench judge has ever seen, a 32-year-old man has not been designated as a long-term offender.
After waiting more than a month to hear the outcome, Alexander George Wawia was handed a sentence of five-and-a half years for the severe beating of a 47-year-old man with a pipe over an alleged debt in February 2007. But Justice James Langston said he was not prepared to find him a long-term offender.When giving his decision, Langston, who called the assault “particularly brutal,” recalled how Wawia used a steel pipe to repeatedly strike the victim for more than an hour in his own home. The man suffered significant physical and psychological injuries, in which he is still trying to fully recover.
Upon his arrest, Wawia showed no remorse for what he had done, added Langston, and said he was simply protecting his own territory.
Before arriving at his decision for the appropriate sentence, Langston recalled the 83 criminal convictions the accused has on his record, in which some are violent assaults that occurred both in and outside of correctional facilities. On one occasion in a New Brunswick institution, Wawia assaulted another inmate by banging his head against the ground to the point where guards fired warning shots at him to get him to back off. On another occasion, Wawia and another individual assaulted a man while in the Lethbridge Provincial Court holding cells, kicking him repeatedly.
A forensic psychologist who testified during the long-term offender hearing in January told the court Wawia has never known a life outside of crime. He was raised in an environment surrounded by criminal activity and drug usage, and continued that lifestyle well into his adult years. The testimony also revealed Wawia was a sufficient risk to re-offend, especially if he continues to be involved in dealing drugs, where he sees violence as part of the business.
When an individual comes before the court and has a background of serious violent offences, the Crown can ask for a risk assessment to be conducted to see if they meet criteria for a long-term offender designation. Wawia was given credit for his time spent in custody, which reduces his sentence to three years behind bars."
