CASE STUDY: Domestic Assault x2 in Picton

Our client, Mr. W, found himself in a stressful situation following an incident with his wife, Mrs. W, who was the complainant in this case. The couple had been married for a few years, shared two children and were expecting another when they let their anger get the best of them and got into a physical altercation. At the time of the argument, Mr. W had been trying to get his wife to leave his residence but was unsure of how to as she was becoming increasingly aggressive. Mrs. W claimed that her husband had pushed her, jumped on her head and neck and threatened her with a knife. Understandably distressed by this situation, Mr. W reached out to Aitken Robertson for counsel.

Despite arguments in the past, Mr. W and his wife had been attempting to fix their marriage. Mrs. W admitted that she did not want her husband to be arrested and charged when she called the police. She stated that she had wanted Mr. W to begin therapy and that calling the police would encourage him to seek treatment. As per the conditions of his arrest, Mr. W was prohibited from contacting his wife—a restriction that Mrs. W wanted removed.

Our paralegal, Melanie Van Aarde, worked closely with Mr. W to ensure that these goals were met. It became clear that Mr. W never threatened his wife with a knife and that her claims of physical aggression were merely him trying to restrain her when she became physically aggressive towards him. During a Crown pre-trial, the Crown stated that they would agree to enforcing a peace bond if Mr. W were to complete a partner assault response program. Mr. W was concerned that a peace bond would make it difficult to contact his wife, thus making it difficult for them to care for their children. The Crown was stated that they were willing to change the conditions once he completed the partner assault response program. In the meantime, Melanie instructed Mr. W to not break the existing conditions as doing so could result in him facing jail time.

In the end, Mr. W completed the partner assault response program and entered into a peace bond. With thanks to Melanie and Mr. Aitken, our client was able to make it through a stressful situation with peace of mind and gave him the ability to care for his children and work on his marriage. Praising the professionalism of the staff at Aitken Robertson Mr. W expressed gratitude and appreciation for having the ability to reconnect with his family.