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A Sudbury man with a history of violence may have avoided prison because a woman he assaulted did not cooperate with prosecutors and never wanted to be charged.

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Instead, Ontario Court Justice Graham Jenner gave Robert Kennedy a suspended sentence.

“This is a fairly high level of violence,” Judge Jenne said. “Clearly what happened, that attack in November, alcohol was a factor and I’m sure things would have been different if it hadn’t been a factor.

“I think it’s important to understand that. Intimate partner violence is an epidemic and of acute concern in this community. The facts heard today are quite shocking and quite appalling.”

However, Jenner said the Crown would have faced significant legal problems if the case had gone to trial because the victim would not cooperate.

“If there were no significant trial issues from the Crown’s perspective and the Crown had co-operated with her in the prosecution of the charges … perhaps being found guilty after trial, there would be a natural custodial sentence,” the judge said.

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Kennedy, 36, who was facing seven charges, entered four guilty pleas, including:

– mischief under $5,000 and assault (originally assault causing bodily harm) for an assault at his apartment on November 21, 2023; and

breaches of undertaking to contact her husband on March 20 and 21.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Jenner issued an 18-month probation order that includes a condition that Kennedy have no contact with her husband unless she gives written, revocable consent.

In addition, he cannot own weapons and must attend domestic violence and substance abuse programs.

Crown and defense lawyer Denis Michel suggested the penalties.

“I haven’t had a drink since the (November) incident,” Kennedy told Judge Jenner moments before he was sentenced.

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The court heard in an agreed statement of facts that the woman and Kennedy had been in an on-again, off-again relationship since November 21 last year when she drove to Montreal to pick him up.

Arriving in Montreal, she found Kennedy uncooperative and drunk. During the return trip, Kennedy threw a pack of cigarettes at her, hitting her in the face.

When the pair returned to Kennedy’s apartment in New Sudbury, he became upset and threw the woman’s cell phone and shoes, causing about $1,200 worth of damage to the phone.

Kennedy then punched the woman in the back and kneed her, causing vaginal bleeding, before punching her in the jaw.

The attack stopped after the woman bit Kennedy on the leg and fled the apartment.

When Greater Sudbury police officers and paramedics arrived, the woman was in a nearby apartment. Another tenant was holding a towel over the victim’s head and blood was running down his right cheek.

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The woman was taken to Health Sciences North for treatment.

Kennedy was charged and released on a bond that included a condition to stay away from the woman.

On March 5, police officers acting on a tip visited Kennedy’s apartment and found the woman inside. Kennedy, who appeared intoxicated, had yelled at the woman, telling her to go and live with her mother.

The woman told officers she had been spending nights at Kennedy’s apartment since January.

Text messages police reviewed indicated that Kennedy wanted the woman back to live with him and that he missed her.

Then on March 20, Kennedy contacted the woman to visit her. When he arrived, Kennedy was drunk and angry.

The next day, Kennedy contacted the woman indirectly and told her to stop bothering one of his children he contacted.

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“Leave me and my family alone,” the message said.

The court heard the woman did not provide a victim impact statement to the Crown and never wanted Kennedy to be charged.

In his sentencing statement, Michel said Kennedy, who works as a diamond driller in the north, had stopped drinking.

“What happened on these occasions was a result of his drinking problems,” the lawyer said.

Michel said Kennedy and the woman, who each have children from other relationships, need each other.

“This is a family unit that needs to come back together,” he said. “The family unit depends on each other.”

Michel said the woman wants to get back together with Kennedy and work things out.

“He is a good and caring father,” the lawyer said. “She demands him in her family.”

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Michel added that before coming to court, Kennedy donated to the local chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association and it was his client who called police about the Nov. 21 attack at the apartment.

Assistant Crown attorney Sandra Town said the Crown understood from discussions with the woman that she wanted no contact with Kennedy.

Town said Kennedy’s record includes an assault conviction in 2008, an assault conviction on a police officer in 2022 and assault convictions involving three other women. As a result, she said it was important for Kennedy to get counseling for issues like domestic violence and anger management.

“This is a sentence where rehabilitation is a very important sentencing principle,” she concluded.

As a result of the four guilty pleas, the Crown dropped the other charges Kennedy was facing.

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X: @HaroldCarmichae

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