44 year old Fort MacMurray resident Joseph Preshyonhas been sentenced to jail time for a bar fight that ended with one man suffering serious lacerations to the head after being assaulted with a weapon, a beer mug. Preshyon was charged with assault with a weapon, and he entered a guilty plea in Fort MacMurray Provincial Court to this charge. The bar fight occurred on November 27, 2014 at the Canadian Brewhouse. It came out in court that the Fort MacMurray man was defending his nephew in the incident. According to Crown Prosecutor Dominique Mathurin the RCMP responded to the bar after receiving a complaint about an assault with a beer mug, and the man who was assaulted had lacerations to the head. The prosecutor told the court that the victim reported being attacked by an unknown assailant, but security footage told a different story.

Crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin told the court that “The accused snapped when he saw his nephew having a fight with one of the other individuals.” The bar fight was serious, and the charges of assault with a weapon required a stiff sentence. The prosecutor also added that they understood the nature of the bar fight. Preshyonhas issued an apology to Justice James Jacques, blaming depression and alcohol addiction for the incident. Preshyonhas stated to the court “I want to express my supreme remorse for my irrational and dangerous actions. I’m feeling a lot of shame at becoming a negative role model … when I thought of the result to (the victim), I felt ill.” The sentence handed down by the court included 14 days in jail, scheduled around the defendant’s employment, plus a year of probation and court mandated substance abuse treatment.