ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A 64-year-old man was sentenced to 28 days time served Friday for biting a woman, leaving a hole in her jeans and blood on his lip.
Lester Cluney was given enhanced credit for the time he has spent in custody since his arrest on March 4, when RNC officers arrested him at a home in Conception Bay South after receiving a report of an altercation there.
The court heard that Cluney had taken a woman’s cellphone and attempted to break it. A physical struggle happened when the woman attempted to take the phone back, with another person attempting to restrain Cluney.
Cluney bit the woman on the back and the leg during the altercation. Police noted a hole in the leg of her jeans above a fresh cut, and dried blood on Cluney’s lip.
The woman, who declined to make a written statement, told police Cluney had become aggressive when she wanted the phone back, and she hadn’t realized he had bitten her.
Cluney didn’t deny the allegation, but seemed to brush it off when asked in the courtroom if he had anything to say.
“I never thought much of the incident. It just happened so fast, boom, bang,” he told Judge Lois Skanes. “Everybody screws up and got their arguments, but sometimes there are too many people involved.”
Prosecutor Paul Thistle pointed out Cluney had no prior record of assault, but has amassed a number of convictions for other crimes in the past two years.
“This is quite serious,” Thistle told Skanes of the assault on the woman, saying the court had an obligation to deter such violence.
He asked the judge for an order requiring Cluney to participate in counselling for alcohol abuse and domestic violence, and noted the complainant had submitted a written request asking the court not to ban Cluney from contacting her. Skanes accepted both suggestions.
Defence lawyer Dan Furey called the assault “very regrettable” and told the court he hoped it wouldn’t happen again.
“I will say yes, certain things do happen,” the judge told Cluney directly, “but they don’t usually get to the point where someone is bitten and bleeding. I’d suggest you look into what might be causing you to do these things.”
