Nunavut man to serve two years for four assault convictions

A Cape Dorset man must serve two years plus one day in prison for brutal assaults on four Nunavut women last summer, a Nunavut judge has ruled.

Timothy Ezekiel, 27, will serve that time in a federal penitentiary, for assaults he committed in the summer of 2018, all fuelled by alcohol.

In August Ezekiel brutally beat, for hours, a woman he was ordered to stay away from while on probation.

He was convicted of forcible confinement in relation to that assault. Photo evidence shows heavy bruising on multiple areas of the woman’s body.

“The attack has been described as a drunken rampage,” Justice Gregory Mulligan said.

Mulligan normally serves on the Ontario Superior Court, but he’s also a deputy judge on the Nunavut court.

His judgment flows from a joint sentencing submission, Jan. 17, for all of Ezekiel’s convictions.

Mulligan delivered an oral judgment this past Sept. 20. The Nunavut court released a written version this week.

Ezekiel is also convicted for uttering threats and breaching court orders that required him to keep the peace and abstain from alcohol.

During another assault, in July, he broke a window and punched a woman in the face more than once.

Ezekiel resisted arrest after that incident. He also struck another woman hard enough to break her glasses.

Ezekiel entered guilty pleas to these offences, which spared his victims from having testify in court.

“The victims were not required to testify and relive these horrific experiences at the hands of an alcoholic on a rampage,” Mulligan said, describing the early guilty plea as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

“These were vulnerable women,” he said.

But Ezekiel has previous convictions for assaults and for breaching court orders.

He has served jail time twice and was on probation when these new assaults happened.

“He has not learned any lessons during his prior reformatory sentences. The victims were vulnerable and defenceless victims who suffered serious injuries,” Mulligan said.

Crown and defence lawyers submitted similar sentencing submissions. Ezekiel had been held in custody for 57 days prior to sentencing.

“When offenders are sent to the penitentiary, it is often important to make note that their first penitentiary term should be as short as reasonably possible given the circumstances,” Mulligan said.

Sentences of up to two years are usually served at territorial correctional centres, while sentences beyond two years are normally served in a federal prison.

“I am satisfied that a penitentiary term of two years plus a day remaining to be served is a measured response to the situation here, given Mr. Ezekiel’s criminal record and the harm done to individuals in this case.”

Ezekiel is prohibited from contacting the women he assaulted and is ordered not to use weapons for three years following his release.

He must pay $130 in restitution to a woman whose glasses he broke and must also pay a victim fine surcharge of $200.

R. v. Ezekiel, 2018 NUCJ 26 by on Scribd