26-year-old Blake Johnny was sentenced to three years in prison for an aggravated assault and attempted robbery in which a single father was stabbed at a Williams Lake convenience store after picking up a jug of milk for his daughter.
Madam Justice Church delivered the ‘fit and appropriate’ sentence in Williams Supreme Court Tuesday morning.
She said with a credit of 522 days Johnny will have a little over 18 months to serve in prison.
Johnny also received a mandatory firearms prohibition.
He pled guilty to the charges on Sept. 26, 2018.
The offenses took place on Jan. 1, 2018 after 8 pm at the Comer Station Convenience Store.
The victim returning home from work went to the convenience store on Mackenzie Avenue, got out of his truck, made his purchase, and returned to his vehicle. After getting into the driver’s seat and placing the milk on the seat while his driver’s door remained open, he was approached by Johnny who demanded his truck keys.
After refusing Johnny’s demands a scuffle broke out and the victim was cut under his left arm, fell out of his truck, and was stabbed once in the lower abdomen. Getting up and running into the store where he threw his keys towards the cash register, Johnny pursued the victim into the store still armed with the knife and continued to try and obtain the keys.
A store patron tried to render assistance and staff activated the panic alarm for police.
“Johnny fled from the store without obtaining the keys,” Church said.
“Much of the interaction between Jonny and the victim was captured on surveillance video from three different cameras used in the store parking lot and inside the store.”
The victim was transported to Cariboo Memorial Hospital for emergency surgery and remained in the hospital for one week.
Johnny has remained in custody since being arrested for a period of 348 days.
“Mr. Johnny is a youthful Aboriginal offender whose adult criminal record is relatively minute,” Church said of the mitigating factors.
“Two he has entered guilty pleas in these offenses and has accepted responsibility for the offenses. The guilty pleas made it unnecessary for the victim to go through a trial. Three, Mr. Johnny is remorseful and expressed his regrets the impact of his actions had on the victim.”
Church said in her view Johnny’s intoxication due to alcohol at the time of the offenses was not a mitigating factor.
“This was an unprovoked and violent attack.”