Michael Finch admitted Tuesday that he did commit a vicious attack which severely injured another man in 2023.
He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, stemming from an incident where the victim was attacked with a hammer and metal pipe in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
Ontario Court Justice John Condon heard city police responded to a Sept. 7, 2023 call about an incident in the Albert Street East and Hughes Street area.
A screaming woman was being assaulted by a man. Finch and his girlfriend were there and he chased the man down the stairs.
Finch struck the man with the pipe and hammer and "hit him all over his body," prosecutor Adrianna Mucciarelli said.
"You like to hit girls. How do you like this?" he asked the man, who responded "alright I get it."
The victim, who had serious injuries, "was unresponsive" when he was taken to the Sault Area Hospital.
He checked out of the hospital the following day, and refused to give a statement to police, the assistant Crown attorney said, adding there is no updated information about his injuries.
One of the officers observed he had a broken hand and ribs, she told Condon.
Finch, 39, eluded police for six months, and wasn't arrested until March 14 of last year.
He also pleaded guilty to four other charges, including assaulting his partner on May 26, two counts of threatening and a single count of breaching a release order.
The Crown and defence lawyer Sarah Tucci jointly recommended a sentence of eight months jail, plus three years probation.
Finch has a dated record and a history of criminal behaviour, Mucciarelli said.
All of the offences before the court were violent and included assaults, as well as threats to his partner's mother.
The Crown also indicated there were triable issues in the weapon assault case.
Tucci said her client, who had a crystal meth addiction, has participated in all available programs at the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre.
"He is extremely remorseful for his offences and knows where he went wrong," she told Condon.
"He wasn't in the right mind set but is now."
Finch echoed his lawyer about his state of mind at the time.
"I'm ashamed of my actions and accept the consequences," he said.
"My plan is to remain sober and live a clean life now."
Condon asked him if he was aware of the "bit of irony" in his behaviour.
You attacked a man with a hammer and a pipe because he assaulted a woman, then "you assaulted your partner" and threatened to "slit her mother's throat."
The attack on the other man "was violent, rending him unresponsive" at one point and involved two weapons.
The judge also noted Finch has been attending a methadone program to deal with his eight-year addiction.
Condon sentenced him to eight months incarceration.
With the enhanced credit he received for his pre-sentence custody, Finch faces a further 22 days behind bars.
During his 36-month probation, he can have no contact with the three victims and can't be within 50 metres of them.
He must take any recommended assessments, counselling and rehabilitative programs for anger management, substance abuse and domestic violence, including the Partner Assault Response program.
Condon also prohibited him from possessing weapons for 10 years and ordered him to provide a DNA sample for the national database.