By Bob Mackin | Prince George Citizen
A man who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault was sentenced April 3 in Quesnel to a 20-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation.
Darcy Larry Edward Penner must serve the first eight months of the sentence under house arrest and then follow a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
The Crown proposed to Justice Marguerite Church that she jail Penner for 10 months, followed by a 14-month probation order. The defence proposed an 18-month conditional sentence, to be served in the community under house arrest.
The maximum sentence for aggravated assault — an umbrella term for wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering someone’s life — is 14 years in jail.
Penner pleaded guilty April 1. An agreed statement of facts said Penner, who was 37 at the time of the crime, and the victim, a 17-year-old, were attending a party at the residence of their employer.
Penner punched his younger co-worker in the head while revellers were ringing in 2024 with a fireworks display. The punch knocked the victim to the ground and Penner got on top of him and repeatedly punched him in the face while he was on the ground. The victim was bloodied and his jaw was broken.
The victim told police that he gave Penner the finger around 11 p.m. and that Penner laughed, but that he believed they were playing around. He described the assault at midnight as a surprise. While his memory of the attack was hazy, the victim believed Penner punched him more than five times, perhaps as many as 15.
The victim’s impact statement, which was read in court on April 1, said the victim was unable to walk for three months or eat solid food for six weeks while his mouth was wired shut. He lost three months of work and experienced intense pain after the surgery. “I cried so hard I could not help it,” he wrote. “I have no words for Darcy. I will always be speechless. I will always wonder why and what kind of 37-year-old does this to a 17-year-old. I’ll never get over this, it hurts me so very bad.”
