Wife's vision blurred after husband's attack, court hears

A Paradise woman says she's suffered black eyes, split lips, broken wrists and toes, but it was a beer bottle smashed over her head that lead her to calling police on her husband for the first time.

Joan Barry was in Supreme Court in St. John's Wednesday for her husband Jason Churchill's sentencing hearing.

Churchill, 41, has been convicted of an attack that left Barry with blurred vision.  Her cornea was split, requiring 13 stitches and her skull was fractured. 

"I asked him why he was so mean to me and I guess it tempered his rage, and he whacked the beer bottle over the right side of my head," Barry recalled of the August night last year when the assault occurred. 

"It's just a blur. It's just a cloud," Barry said of her vision.

Even with major damage to her eye, Barry said she wasn't initially planning to tell police. Instead, she was going to cover it up, like she had done many times before during their nine-year relationship.

"I've had broken wrists, I wasn't able to walk at times, I've had split lips, black eyes, chipped tooth, broken toes."

"Emotionally, it got to a point where if he asked me a question, I would answer by saying, 'OK, well how do you want me to answer that question so you don't get mad at me?'"

'I was brainwashed'

Encouraged by a friend to come forward, Barry called police to get the incident on record, but still didn't want to press charges. Officers indicated they had no choice.

Barry said she was stuck in a vicious cycle of embarrassment, low self-esteem and fear of leaving.

"I was brainwashed and I just didn't know how to get out and I thought I could fix it."

The Crown is asking that Churchill go to jail for two to three years for aggravated assault. The defence, on the other hand, is recommending a suspended sentence or to serve time on weekends. 

Neither sentence is long enough for Barry, who said she still fears her husband and may never regain her perfect sight.

"For what I went through and what I have to go through with this eye and might not be able to have my full vision back ever .. no ... even two years is not enough." 

The maximum penalty for aggravated assault is 14 years. Barry believes a sentence in the range of eight to 10 years about be more appropriate. 

Churchill will be sentenced later this month.