Assailant ordered to pay $3,000 to doctor
A Whitehorse man has been sentenced to three months in jail after knocking out a Burwash Landing doctor.
A Whitehorse man has been sentenced to three months in jail after knocking out a Burwash Landing doctor.
The physician had been trying to calm down the man while he was shouting at an ex-girlfriend.
Corey Curtis Pope was sentenced in May in Yukon Supreme Court after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault.
According to court documents released this week, Pope, his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Sheperd, and Dr. Graham Henderson were all attending a community event in Burwash Landing on Feb. 25, 2011 when Pope accused Sheperd of becoming involved with another man.
He then angrily left the event and headed back to his hotel in Destruction Bay.
Not long after, both Sheperd and Henderson were also heading back to their own hotel rooms, the court documents say.
Pope was at the hotel, banging on doors, looking for the man he believed Sheperd was now in a relationship with.
He was told to leave by others, but did not.
“Instead, he again began accusing Ms. Sheperd,” Justice Donna Martinson said in the decision.
“Dr. Henderson opened his door and tried to calm him down. Mr. Pope, without any provocation, turned and punched Dr. Henderson in the head, knocking him unconscious.”
Henderson, who is in his 60s and has worked in rural medicine for many years, remained on the ground for several minutes.
He was eventually medevaced to Whitehorse for treatment.
He received three stitches in his lip and now has limited feeling in the area.
He was also unsteady on his feet for months and will require more than $20,000 in dental work, the document says.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of two years’ incarceration.
In her decision, Martinson said she would normally have imposed the two-year sentence if it were not for the fact that this is Pope’s first offence.
He also has close ties in the community, is remorseful and is unlikely to do it again, she said.
Pope has also been ordered to pay Henderson $3,000.
Once he is released, he will be on probation for two years.

anonymous
Jul 5, 2012 at 4:37 pm
$20000 in dental work!!! No one NEEDS $20000 in dental work.
Before you get involved think twice. Is it worth risking your life? That is what the police are for.
Everyone should take care of themselves and rely on law enforcement to do their job.