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Man sentenced to three years for brutal baseball bat attack on Victoria street

Shelbe Drummond must submit to a national DNA database, was issued several weapons bans
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Shelbe Drummond was sentenced to three years for a June 2020 aggravated assault using a baseball bat.(Black Press Media file photo)

A Victoria man was sentenced to three years in prison for a “brutal” baseball bat attack on another man outside Our Place Society.

A jury found Shelbe Drummond guilty of the June 1, 2020, aggravated assault.

Drummond, now 27, armed with a baseball bat specifically awaited his victim, identified in court documents as Gordon Kloeszar.

Drummond and the victim knew each other and both used the shelter services. Drummond believed Kloeszar had attacked him while he slept the night before, according to the Nov. 2 judgement that was posted Nov. 23.

When Kloeszar arrived, Drummond waited until the other man was crouched to get something from a backpack before repeatedly hitting him in the head and shoulders with the bat. After Kloeszar was on the ground Drummond dropped the bat and left.

“It was a deliberate, prolonged, and brutal attack that took place in full view of onlookers on the sidewalk in downtown Victoria on a sunny afternoon,” Justice G.B. Gomery said.

While Kloeszar did not testify or provide a victim impact statement, photos taken after the assault show bleeding lacerations on his face and head – one about eight centimetres in length requiring at least 10 stitches – and extensive bruising on his back and torso.

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Drummond, who is a father of one and expecting a second, provided letters of reference – including four from outreach workers at Our Place – that indicate a recent change in attitude and demeanour.

There is particular reference to efforts he has made at anger management since the jury verdict in April, including seeking counselling from the Men’s Therapy Centre. As of Oct. 5, he had attended two counselling sessions focusing on anger management, adverse child experience, and trauma, the judgement reads.

“I urge you to continue working at anger management while you are in prison and to take advantage of the programs that will be offered to you there,” Gomery said. “Be the better person you want to be. I think that you can.”

Along with the three-year sentence, Drummond must submit to a national DNA database and was issued several weapons bans, including a lifetime ban on possessing any prohibited firearm, weapon, device, and prohibited ammunition.


 

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