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BARRHEAD - A 57-year-old man who spat on a nurse at the Barrhead Healthcare Centre will have to spend 30 days essentially under house arrest.
Justice Gregory Arnold Rice gave Taras Orest Rauliuk a 30-day conditional sentence order (CSO), 18 months of probation, and 30 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to assault and resisting a peace officer at Barrhead Court of Justice on Jan. 14, accepting a Crown recommendation.
Probation conditions include reporting to his probation officer as directed and attending all assessments, counselling and treatment mandated by said probation officer, especially regarding drug and alcohol abuse. Rauliuk is also prohibited from leaving the province.
Defence counsel Richard Forbes suggested 18 months of probation was a more fitting sentence.
"I think the Crown is really being reasonable," Rice said. "You could have gone to jail for this, and you're not. That's where the rubber meets the road."
The Crown also withdrew eight other charges, including four charges of making threats to cause death or bodily harm, two charges of mischief damage under $5,000 and another count of resisting a peace officer.
Crown prosecutor Francis Wallace told the court that the charges stem from a July 2, 2024, incident when an associated ambulance crew requested the RCMP's assistance.
"Mr. Rauliuk was heavily intoxicated and declined EMS assistance. Instead, he asked the RCMP for a courtesy ride to the hospital.," she said.
"Which they did."
However, Wallace said as the police officers were leaving, the hospital nursing staff called them back, telling them that the accused refused treatment and was combative towards the nursing staff.
"Mr. Rauliuk started spitting in the examination room with [the complaintant] and other nursing staff, who instructed him to stop. Mr. Rauliuk then looked up at [the complainant] and directly spat at and on [her]," she said.
The complainant then left the examination room, and shortly after, Rauliuk left the hospital.
Wallace said constables Ben Tapp and Nathan Ching located the accused a short distance from the hospital, informing him that he was under arrest for spitting on hospital staff.
"Mr. Rauliuk then proceeded to pull down his pants, exposing himself," she said, adding Tapp then pulled up the accused pants and verbally 'chartered' the accused while escorting the accused to the front of the police cruiser to be searched. "Mr. Rauliuk tensed up his body and attempted to turn away. Const. Tapp instructed Mr. Rauliuk to stop resisting and comply with demands."
When the accused continued to resist, Wallace said, the officers had to use "open-hand, soft control techniques to maintain control and put him in the cruiser."
Crown's position on sentencing
Wallace said the Crown was seeking a 30-day conditional sentence order (CSO) to be served as 24-hour house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation on each count to run concurrently and 30 hours of community service.
On the aggravating side, Wallace noted that Rauliuk had an albeit dated criminal record, with the last conviction in 1997. Also on the aggravating side was the accused spitting on a nurse.
"A nurse is a health care worker, and she was assaulted in the course of her duties," she said. "It is a demeaning and degrading act."
On the mitigating side, Wallace credited Rauliuk's early guilty plea.
Forbes said his client has been plagued with mental health issues his entire life, explicitly noting bipolar disorder.
He added that Rauliuk has also battled addiction, stemming from a workplace injury and subsequent prescription for opiates.
"From what he has described, for as long as it has gone on, amazingly, there is not more criminal activity," Forbes said.
Forbes also argued that his client's moral culpability was diminished because he was not only was he severely intoxicated but also in the throws of a manic bipolar episode.
He also noted that Rauliuk had taken steps to improve his life since the incident. He referred to his mental health hospital self-admittance from Nov. 15, 2024, to Dec. 14, 2024, and his bimonthly ongoing Westlock counselling sessions and is on the wait list for the Lakeview Recovery Centre, which provides addiction recovery support.
"It is our submission that this is a significant rehabilitative step, and he voluntarily deprived himself of his liberty to get on top of these issues. It has been successful, as he has continued his sobriety," Forbes said, adding that, as a result, 18-month probation was a fit and appropriate sentence.
Rauliuk apologized for his actions, admitting he made some poor decisions that exacerbated and contributed to a manic episode.
He said earlier in the day of the incident, someone threatened his life.
"Instead of doing what I should have done and reporting it to the police," Rauliuk said. "I went home and dove into a bottle, took my meds and subsequently went into a state of uncontrolled behaviour. “I’m trying to get my life back on track and set a good example for my kids and my granddaughter.”
Justice Rice said that although the suggested sentences from the Crown and defence were close enough, they were not close enough.
"I get it. You have some mental health issues, and you were in a tailspin," he said. "But we have people whose job is to administer the law, the RCMP, and you pulled your pants down. Really? Do you need that as part of your daily job? I don't think so. I understand why the behaviour, which was off the charts, was happening, but there has to be a message."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
