BOYLE — A Mewatha Beach resident’s attempt to plead guilty to assault after an altercation with a neighbour ended in punches thrown was denied by a Justice and will proceed to trial.
Christopher Young appeared in-person in Boyle Court of Justice Feb. 11 to enter a guilty plea to a reduced charge of assault after being initially charged with assault with a weapon.
But after hearing Young deny the facts of the case as read by the Crown prosecutor, Justice Robert Shaigec opted to not accept the guilty plea entered as a way to speed up the legal process.
“I just wanted to get it over with,” said Young.
“This isn’t a fast food restaurant, we don’t do things really fast just to get it over with,” said Shaigec.
Prosecutor Taylor Noble recounted the facts of the July 1, 2024 incident, and said Boyle RCMP received a report that one Dennis Tomuschat had been punched in the face by Young after an alteraction over speed signage in the summer village.
Upon arrival, RCMP took statements from witnesses, who indicated Young travelled to Tomuschat’s residence and confronted Tomuschat on his driveway about pylons to reduce speed that had been placed around the home, court heard.
Noble said Young was seen putting the pylons in the back of his side-by-side offroad vehicle and punched Tomuschat as he approached. Witnesses said Young then got back in his side-by-side to leave, and accidentally drove over the foot of another person on scene in the process.
When asked by the judge if the facts were admitted, Young replied: “yes and no.”
Young denied being on Tomuschat’s driveway, stating they were on the roadway instead. He said rather than taking the pylons and trying to instigate a fight, he was there to take photos of Tomuschat’s efforts to slow passing traffic for the safety of children in the area.
“I’m very passionate about the community, and we’ve had a wicked bout of people speeding through the subdivision, not stopping,” said Young.
“Mr. Tomuschat was the mayor at the given time. We went to him numerous times about him taking away the signs and not putting anything back, but yet he took the initiative to put signs out himself that aren’t legal.”
Young also said the punch he threw was in self defense after he had been pushed by Tomuschat and fell down.
“I got back up, I thought he was swinging to hit me so I protected myself and I swung back,” said Young.
The Crown applied to amend the complainant from the man whose foot had been run over to Dennis Tomuschat, an amendment first approved but ultimately denied by Shaigec.
“I’m not accepting your guilty plea; that sounds like I’m ruling against you, it’s not that I’m doing that,” said Shaigec.
“On the basis of what you’ve told me today, I can’t accept a guilty plea because you’re denying wrongdoing, and you’re entitled to deny wrongdoing.”
Young will appear in Boyle Court on Feb. 25 to enter a new plea and book a date for trial.
