A Barrie judge extended an Innisfil man a sense of compassion Thursday that the 24-year-old failed to show to three teenagers during a violent, unprovoked knife attack last summer.
Bill Bower, whose given name is Clarence, was sentenced to two years less a day on house arrest after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
The details of the case, according to a joint submission by the Crown and defence, are disturbing.
According to that joint submission, Bower was walking his dog near his parents' Innisfil home in August 2023. He perceived that one of the teenagers insulted his dog and returned to the scene in a vehicle armed with a “foldable” knife.
Bower attacked all three victims in what the judge called “an unprovoked assault.”
One victim required more than 25 stitches to close cuts on his neck, court heard. That victim said the doctor who treated him at hospital explained “how close I came to dying” in his victim impact statement.
Another one of the victims detailed the anxiety he continues to suffer in the 15 months since the attack.
The third victim did not file a statement with the court.
Bower’s lawyer spoke for about 15 minutes on his client’s behalf and said that his client has struggled with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and general anxiety for years. While being in the care of a psychiatrist since his arrest, his lawyer said Bower is showing symptoms of a borderline personality disorder.
A condition of the house arrest is that Bower must continue to seek help for his medical and psychological issues.
The sentence was small consolation for one of Bower’s victims, who was in court on Thursday with his family. He declined comment when asked by BarrieToday.
“Still too traumatic,” said his mother, who said she was disappointed but not surprised that Bower received such a favourable sentence, because he previously had no criminal record.
For his part, Bower, dressed in grey suit jacket and dark turtleneck while accompanied by his mother, took responsibility for his actions and apologized.
“I wanted to apologize to the three victims,” he said in his brief remarks after his lawyer had spoken on his behalf. “What I did was inexcusable. I’m trying to be better and want to be better.”
Bower also apologized to those who witnessed the assault and to court staff.
Court heard details of his steady, itinerant work history at various labourer jobs that was interrupted by both pandemic restrictions but also bail conditions after his arrest.
Bower also took time since his arrest to care for his ailing father, who has since died.
That background, as well as his recent attempts to upgrade his education beyond his high school diploma he received from Nantyr Shores Secondary School in 2019, appeared to sway the judge that a prison sentence was not required.
Bower will be allowed to leave his house for work in Barrie. He was also granted other exceptions, including a four-hour window on Saturdays for necessary personal appointments.
Bower must reside at his mother’s home under the conditions of his house arrest for 18 months, then spend the remainder of the sentence under a curfew. That sentence will be followed by 12 months probation and a 10-year weapons ban.
