A Kamloops-area man who bit his wife and another man during a drunken rage inside a Cache Creek pizza shop has been ordered to spend 18 months on probation and attend anger-management counselling.
But Ian James Campbell will not have a criminal record if he completes his probation without incident, meaning he will not face deportation back to his native Scotland.
The 58-year-old pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court to one count each of assault causing bodily harm and mischief under $5,000.
Court heard police were called to Anie’s Pizza & Bakery in Cache Creek just before 5 p.m. on April 6 for a report of a disturbance.
Campbell’s wife owns the pizza shop. Campbell had been drinking all day and picked a fight with a shop employee. He then bit his wife twice — on her hand and on her calf — when she tried to intervene.
The employee hit Campbell in the head with a frying pan and then made two phone calls — one to police and another to a male friend to help her remove Campbell from the business.
The man showed up first and dragged Campbell out of the restaurant. His thumb was bitten in the process — hard enough to break skin.
Campbell was arrested by police, who described him as very intoxicated. For the last five months, he has been living in Kamloops under conditions prohibiting him from having any contact with his wife.
Through tears, Anie Campbell told Judge Ray Phillips that she wants her husband back, and said she needs him to help repair damage to the pizza shop caused by spring flooding in Cache Creek.
Crown prosecutor Lisa Scruton was seeking 18 months of probation, while defence lawyer Courtney McLaughlin sought a conditional discharge — a period of probation after which Campbell would have no criminal record.
She said such a sentence was necessary to avoid having him deported back to Scotland.
“Because he’s a permanent resident and not a Canadian citizen, he is at risk for deportation,” McLaughlin said.
"Although this is an offence where it’s a very low risk, it is a risk nonetheless.”
Campbell, who has no prior criminal history, said he’s been sober since the day of the incident.
“I’m very remorseful about what happened that day,” he said in court.
"It will never happen again. I haven’t touched alcohol since the day it happened.”
Phillips went along with McLaughlin’s suggestion and sentenced Campbell to an 18-month conditional discharge, with probation conditions requiring he have no contact with the pizza shop employee and leave his wife upon her request.
He will also be prohibited from consuming alcohol and required to attend counselling for anger management and alcohol use.
