Domestic violence
OFFENCE: Common Assault
RESULT: Charges withdrawn
LAWYER: Sean Fagan
Regina v. M.F- Jan 2019
Charges: Section 266 of the Criminal Code of Canada
The police responded to a residence after receiving a 911 call regarding a domestic violence complaint. The couple had been drinking and gotten into a verbal argument that the complainant said escalated and ultimately got physical. The police arrived quickly and arrested M.F. for assault.
There are always two sides to every story. The police typically listen to one side, and leave it to the courts and lawyers to figure out the truth. Unfortunately, this can come at a financial cost, and a lengthy period of time where the accused’s future is in limbo.
In this case, Sean Fagan was successful at resolving this most unfortunate prosecution by way of a peace bond. A peace bond is a form of resolution where typically, the accused agrees to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, abide by counselling, and the charges are completely withdrawn.
The counselling program is onerous and time consuming. In the Calgary region, typically the counselling program is the Sheriff King Domestic Violence counselling program. A peace bond is a safe and certain way to resolve offences of this nature, as it results in no criminal conviction being imposed.