Oromocto man admits to night-club stabbing
Shawn Patrick Sacobie, 35, will be sentenced in late June for aggravated assault, assaults with a weapon and threat
A Welamukotuk (Oromocto) First Nation man accused of seriously injuring another individual with a knife and assaulting two others with that knife has pleaded guilty to all counts against him.
Shawn Patrick Sacobie, 35, appeared by telephone in Fredericton provincial court Thursday from the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre.
He elected to be tried in provincial court and pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault on Cody Leblanc by wounding and/or disfiguring him, thereby endangering his life.
Sacobie also pleaded guilty to assaulting Jason Ferris and Eric Pryor with a knife, and to threatening to cause death and/or bodily harm to Fredericton police Const. Matt Bujold.
The charges stemmed from a violent incident at the Twenty/20 Club in downtown Fredericton in the early-morning hours of March 4.
Evidence presented at Sacobie’s bail hearing in March - which had been subject to a publication ban up to this point - indicated Sacobie was highly intoxicated at the bar and was asked to leave the premises as a result shortly before closing time.
Sacobie was enraged, produced a knife and used it on LeBlanc, a bar employee, seriously injuring him to the point that he required surgery later at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.
He also assaulted another staff member and a patron who were helping LeBlanc, court heard at the bail hearing.
The Fredericton Police Force, in a news release issued March 4, reported all three victims were taken to hospital for treatment.
Judge Scott Brittain scheduled Sacobie’s sentencing hearing for June 29, and he ordered the preparation of victim-impact statements and a pre-sentence report.
Defence lawyer T.J. Burke noted the pre-sentence report should include a Gladue component.
Gladue reports are addendums to pre-sentence reports that focus on the unique issues at play in the sentencing of Indigenous offenders. They contain information on family and cultural background factors at play in a case, as well as rehabilitative plans, all for the court’s consideration in sentencing.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.