N.W.T. man gets 6 months for biting tip of man's nose off
Provoked assault outside downtown bar, then bit off tip of victim's nose
A Fort Smith, N.W.T., man has been sentenced to six months in jail for a brutal assault which left another man disfigured.
Stein Randal Bourque, 23, pleaded guilty to biting off the tip of another man’s nose last February outside the Raven Pub in Yellowknife.
After serving his jail time, he will be on probation for two years.
During sentencing, the judge heard that the victim and his girlfriend were standing outside the pub when Bourque approached them and began making sexual comments to the woman.
The victim stepped between her and Bourque. Bourque pushed him and the two began to wrestle. Bourque pinned the man down and then bit off the tip of his nose.
The victim was rushed to the hospital and had his nose surgically re-attached.
The prosecutor had called for a jail sentence of between 13 and 18 months, citing the impact the assault has had on the victim.
The victim is still seeing a doctor and may require plastic surgery. The attack left him with a condition known as psychogenic amnesia, which is memory loss caused by a traumatic event, which he needed counselling for.
Bourque has a history of abusing alcohol. He has 10 previous criminal convictions.
His lawyer told the judge that Bourque has turned his life around, that he now has a job and has stopped drinking. He had argued for a sentence of 90 days.