Judge sentences Ukrainian newcomer to Canada Day 2022 attacker – Winnipeg Free Press

A Winnipeg man who stabbed a newly arrived Ukrainian refugee in the neck during a Canada Day attack in The Forks has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Jayden Kyle Martin, 22, previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for the July 1, 2022 attack.

The court heard at an earlier sentencing hearing that Martin was so drunk he had no memory of the incident.

He is receiving counseling for alcohol and drug addiction while in custody at Headingley Prison and is said to be making positive progress, the court heard.

Martin was granted pre-sentence custody, allowing him to serve the remaining 22 months of his sentence in state prison rather than prison.

District court Judge Mary-Kate Harvie said Martin, a native, had a “destructive” upbringing marked by tumultuous times, time spent in foster care and regular exposure to drug and alcohol abuse.

“Efforts to resolve underlying issues are an important factor for me to consider in the sentencing process,” said Harvie, who sentenced Martin to three more years of supervised probation.

“I realize some may see this (sentence) at the lower end of the scale,” he said. “However, one of the important aspects of a sentence of this length is that it allows for the implementation of a period of probation. “I believe this is an important factor for the court to consider when considering the need for careful transfer of this offender from the institution to the community.”

Co-defendant Tyson Bechard, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to four years in prison in September. An accused male youth was previously sentenced to three years of probation and community supervision.

Volodymir Ishchenko and a boyfriend, also a Ukrainian refugee, were in Winnipeg for just two weeks when they crossed paths with three criminals and a fourth man who was not charged.

According to agreed facts previously presented in court, while Ishchenko and his friend were crossing Israel Asper Road near the museum, at around 10:40 pm, Ishchenko’s friend accidentally bumped into someone in Martin’s group, apologized and continued walking.

The criminals began shouting at Ishchenko and his friend and began attacking them. Martin had a knife and the young criminal had a can of bear spray in his hand.

Ishchenko stopped, asked what was going on and apologized before spraying bear spray in the young man’s face, causing him to fall to the ground.

Martin approached Ishchenko, said something he did not understand, and then stabbed him in the neck.

Bechard punched Ishchenko twice in the head as the victim pleaded: “Comrades, I am Ukrainian. “I am Ukrainian.”

At this point one of the other men in the group shook the hands of the two Ukrainian men and apologized before running away.

Ishchenko’s friend flagged down a passerby and called 911. Ishchenko underwent surgery for two stab wounds in his neck and a collapsed lung. He remained in hospital for five days.

Security video shows Martin, Bechard and the juvenile offender boarding a city bus minutes after the attack. Security video from the bus showed the group laughing and boasting about the attack and wondering if it would make the news.

In her victim impact statement, Ishchenko said she suffered “unbearable” pain following the attack and was “one step away from death”.

“I constantly replay the events in my mind,” Ishchenko wrote, and “I am tormented by nightmares and a pervasive sense of vulnerability.” Her attackers “raped the most intimate thing I have – my life – for no reason, no questions, no warning.”

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Dean Pritchard
court reporter

Dean Pritchard is a court reporter. Free Press. He has been involved with the justice system since 1999 and Brandon Sun And winnipeg sun before joining Free Press In 2019. Read more about Dean.

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