A homeless Kamloops man who punched a woman in the face outside a downtown convenience store has been ordered to spend 45 days in jail.
Robert Francis Snowdon, 52, pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court to one count of assault.
Court heard Snowdon approached two women outside the Seymour Street 7-Eleven at about 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, asking if they had any drugs to sell.
The women told police Snowdon became verbally aggressive and pulled down his pants to urinate. He then became violent.
“Mr. Snowdon became assaultive to the women, and then turned and punched [one of them] in the face,” Crown prosecutor Kaitlyn Lafontaine-Hait said in court.
Defence lawyer Murray Armstrong said Snowdon is homeless and had a difficult upbringing.
Snowdon has a lengthy criminal record with previous convictions for violent offences. In 2009, an Ontario judge sentenced Snowdon to eight years in federal prison on an aggravated assault conviction.
Snowdon, who is from Ontario, said he feels “trapped” in Kamloops.
“I’d like to get out of here,” he said. “I just have no way out."
Kamloops provincial court Judge Ray Phillips went along with a joint submission for a 45-day jail sentence, to be followed by a 12-month period of probation, during which time Snowdon will be prohibited from having any contact with the woman he attacked.
