BOYLE — A 42-year-old man appeared in Boyle Court of Justice Sept. 10 by way of CCTV from the Edmonton Remand Centre to plead guilty to one count of possession of a dangerous weapon.
As part of the joint submission between defense counsel and Crown prosecutor Taylor Noble, single counts of assault with a weapon and failure to comply with a probation order against William Oliver Blood were withdrawn.
Blood received a sentence of 30 days in jail for the weapon charge but had been in pre-trial custody for more than 110 days, a stay Noble, his lawyer, and Justice Robert Shaigec commented on.
“You’ve served seven times that almost,” said Shaigec.
In addition to the jail time, satisfied by time served, Blood was given 12 months’ non-reporting probation with a condition to not possess any edged weapons.
Court heard on May 17, 2024, a woman watched Blood approach her and another male outside of the ATB branch in Lac La Biche. Blood asked for a cigarette, and when the man said he didn’t have any, Blood produced a knife.
The man ran off, and Blood proceeded to wave the knife at the woman before leaving the area himself.
“Aggravating here is his criminal record,” said Noble. “It’s quite lengthy, it has entries from 1995 to 2023. It’s a fairly violent record by my count; seven previous assaults, two previous aggravated assaults.”
She listed mitigating factors as Blood’s guilty plea, and triable issues such as identifying the man in front of ATB.
Blood, a father and former construction worker, was arrested on May 17. Although no Gladue report was presented in court, his lawyer outlined experiences from his past.
“He spent his childhood years in three different foster homes,” said Mamuzo Ojogho, acting as agent for Idowu Ohioze.
When given the opportunity to comment for himself, Blood apologized for his actions and indicated he knew the man outside of ATB.
“I had no right to get physical, I had no right at all,” said Blood. “I have remorse and absolute regret, and I don’t think I should take matters into my own hands anymore. It’s just something that shouldn’t be done.”
