Man sentenced for using baseball bat to assault woman

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A man has been sentenced for assaulting a woman with a baseball bat after she returned from a trip to Fort St. John.

On January 7th this year, Patrick Burns, born 1955, was sentenced to jail time served and handed both a DNA order and an 18-month probation order for the charge of ‘assault with a weapon.’

In the December 19th decision which found Burns guilty, provincial court judge Steven Merrick said Burns had known the victim, Debra Shields, for 18 years. 

She had gone to Fort St. John for 17 days in July 2024 and returned to find the house sitter, Trevor Boule, had taken her pets to Burns’ house.

On July 20th, Boule told Shields that his truck, which was parked in front of Burns’ house, had been vandalized.

She insisted on taking a close look at it, despite Boule’s disapproval. She opened the hood and used her phone to take a picture of the engine.

While doing so, she said Burns struck her on the elbow and back with a baseball bat.

Merrick said the Crown proved beyond reasonable doubt that Burns struck the woman with a baseball bat on her back.

“I am not satisfied that Mr. Burns ‘wound up,’ as described by Ms. Shields, before she was struck with the bat,” Merrick said. “Nor am I satisfied that Mr. Burns struck the truck.”

However, he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Burns was not defending property when he struck the woman.

Burns confronted the woman while she was taking a photograph, but did not need to protect the truck nor did he need to strike the woman.

“Mr. Burns could have closed the hood. He could have told (the victim) to get away from the truck,” Merrick said.

With files from Energeticcity.ca

Read the full decision below: