Standing in the prisoner’s box in court, Dean Michael Haineault apologized for hitting his girlfriend and her son and vowed to change his life.
“I am sorry for my actions. I really shamed and embarrassed myself. I wasn’t raised like that,” Haineault, 37, from Saskatoon, said in Moose Jaw provincial court recently after pleading guilty to two charges of common assault.
After being released from jail in 2013, Haineault found a job and worked steadily until 2020, when the pandemic wiped out his employment, he added. His desire now is to return to work.
Judge Daryl Rayner held up a letter of commendation from Haineault’s employer and read parts of the document, noting that much of it was positive.
“You do strike me as a pleasant person. There are some positives in your life, but there are also some negatives that you have to address,” Rayner said.
The judge pointed to Haineault’s criminal past and the eight previous assault charges on his record. Those concerned Rayner, especially considering the positive comments from his boss. The judge also noted that his current charges were for assaulting his girlfriend and her son.
“They were close to you. You need to address that,” Rayner added.
As part of a joint submission between the Crown and defence, Haineault will spend four months in jail, followed by 12 months of probation. Since he was already serving a conditional sentence order — community house arrest — during these offences, the jail sentence will occur after the CSO is finished, while probation will follow the jail term.
As part of his probation, Haineault must keep the peace and be of good behaviour, report to a probation officer, take programming as directed, have no contact with the woman or her son, not be near either of them and not be near their home, work or school.
Haineault and his girlfriend were drinking at her house on March 27, 2021, when they began to argue, so he attempted to leave, but she took away his keys, explained Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff. The woman locked herself in her bedroom while he punched the bedroom door before grabbing her 13-year-old son and punching him in the stomach.
Haineault then acquired his keys and left the residence.
Nearly a year later, on Oct. 24, Haineault and his girlfriend were together when they again engaged in an argument, Yusuff continued. He grabbed the woman by the throat with both hands, causing her to urinate on herself.
“When (she) told him to leave, the accused threatened to damage her vehicle with an axe. The accused eventually did leave the residence, but not before he had grabbed her collar and ripped a necklace off her neck,” the Crown prosecutor added.
Yusuff noted that Haineault has a criminal record dating to 2007, including similar assault convictions.
“That record played some part in the minds of counsel with this joint submission,” he added.
This issue was due to an unhealthy domestic situation between Haineault and his ex-girlfriend, who dated regularly since 2018, defence lawyer Adam Fritzler said. She had her own issues, while the pandemic made the relationship worse.
“He essentially entered into the situation trying to help her, (but she became) combative. … he makes no excuses for his actions at the time,” the lawyer continued.
Fritzler asked that the victim surcharge be waived since Haineault is not working.
Judge Rayner agreed to accept the joint submission and waive the surcharge fee.
