A 47-year-old woman pleaded guilty April 16 in Prince George Provincial Court to uttering threats, assaulting a peace officer and breaching a release order.
Janice Marie Baptiste will not serve any jail time. Instead, Judge James Henry sentenced her to two concurrent suspended sentences and 18 months probation. Henry also gave her a time served sentence for the eight days spent in custody.
Court heard that Baptiste was intoxicated on May 19, 2023 when she threatened to kill workers at the Mark’s Place shelter after they told her she was not welcome back inside.
On Aug. 22, 2023, Baptiste became agitated when she was searched while in custody at the Prince George courthouse. After being escorted into her cell, she turned around and spat at the face and upper body of a sheriff.
On Oct. 10, 2023, Baptiste failed to report after a release order. A warrant was issued and she was back in custody in July 2024.
“Given Ms. Baptiste’s background, it can perhaps be understood” why she threatened the staff at the shelter, Henry said. However, he found the spitting incident particularly concerning.
“Spitting in itself is a demeaning act and one that is certainly among the more serious levels of assault,” Henry said. “While it doesn't invade someone's body in the sense of causing wounding or bleeding, it does certainly cause someone great distress. I know that this happened after the COVID pandemic, and we all became aware of how difficult it was to navigate a situation where disease, where very serious disease, was easily transferrable, in particular by bodily fluids.”
Henry acknowledged Baptiste’s prior convictions for uttering threats, assault with a weapon and breaches of orders. However, as an Indigenous woman originally from Northern Manitoba, he acknowledged her difficult upbringing, homelessness and reliance on methadone treatment.
Henry required Baptiste, while on probation, to report for psychiatric and counselling assessment and to take all medications as prescribed.
