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Man who punched UVic student gets more jail time for similar assault two weeks later

Latto Simian Sesay has been sentenced to more than 10 years for the two assaults
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Latto Simian Sesay is currently being held in the Matsqui Institution, a medium-security federal men’s prison, in Abbotsford. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A Victoria man already serving time for a one-punch assault that left a UVic student with a life-altering brain injury, has been sentenced to another three and a half years for assaulting someone in the same way less than two weeks prior.

Latto Simian Sesay pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated assault for hitting someone outside a nightclub on March 18, 2018. During this altercation, according to a judgment posted on July 28, Sesay’s girlfriend interrupted a conversation between Jeremiah Anderson and three other friends while they were standing in a circle outside a downtown Victoria nightclub. Anderson asked her to back off, and Sesay, who was standing nearby, took offence.

Sesay punched Anderson in the face, catching him by surprise and causing him to be knocked to the ground with his hands by his side, unconscious. Anderson had to eat out of a straw for eight weeks after the blow, suffering a fractured skull, jaw and orbital bone. He spent three days in hospital and lost five weeks of work.

RELATED: Victoria man suffered brain injuries, ongoing anxiety after assault near Strathcona Hotel

Anderson continues to feel the after-effects of the blow, as he is regularly fatigued and has numbness due to nerve damage in his face, along with experiencing anxiety and depression. He lost his ability to enjoy music, which was a source of employment and pleasure, because “small sounds feel like an earthquake” in his head.

Less than two weeks later, Sesay assaulted another unsuspecting man, Brian Rowley, who was relieving himself behind a dumpster near the Strathcona Hotel. Sesay became enraged after stepping in urine and punched Rowley, leaving him lying unconscious on the ground. He was sentenced in May 2019 to six and a half years in jail for the aggravated assault.

Sesay, 35, has had an “almost unbroken record of involvement” with the criminal justice system since he was 13 years old. His criminal record, which includes convictions for violence, property offences, sexual offences and breaches of court orders, was described as “horrendous” by the B.C. Court of Appeals in 2018.

RELATED: Man who punched UVic student, causing ‘life-altering’ brain injury gets slightly reduced sentence

According to the judgment, since Sesay was convicted of the second attack, he has worked on addressing his use of drugs and alcohol, along with his propensity for violence. In 2020, Sesay completed a non-violent conflict resolution program and on Feb. 20, 2020, completed three months of sobriety at Matsqui Institution, a federal medium-security prison in Abbotsford.

Crown counsel asked for a sentence of four years to be served consecutive the sentence he is already serving, while defence suggested a concurrent sentence of two years less a day, followed by three years probation.

Sesay was sentenced to a consecutive sentence of three and a half years, for a total of just over 10 years behind bars. A lifetime firearms prohibition was also ordered.


 

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