By Taylor MacPherson

Leslie Black not a dangerous offender, will be sentenced next month

Aug 30, 2017 | 12:26 PM

CONTENT WARNING

The 32-year-old man whose vicious assault left a woman legless and partially blind will not be labelled a dangerous offender.

In his 18-page decision read today in a Prince Albert courtroom, Judge Stanley Loewen said while Leslie Ivan Black’s brutal crime certainly warrants a lengthy penitentiary sentence and a long-term supervision order, he could not conclude that Black’s risk to reoffend was so great he could never re-enter the community.

In the early morning hours of June 1, 2014, Black encountered Marlene Bird and two associates in an alley in the 100-block of 12th St. W. in Prince Albert. Bird and her friends had been drinking, as had Black. Eventually, Loewen said, Bird’s two friends left and she had sex with Black. At some point during their intercourse, Bird said she would “charge [Black] with rape.” In response, Black beat and stomped Bird viciously and lit her clothing on fire with a lighter.

After the attack, Black walked to a nearby 7-Eleven and bought candy, Loewen said, and then walked past the scene of his crime where he ignored his still-burning victim. It was several hours before anyone discovered Bird, the court heard, who was barely clinging to life with burns so severe they exposed her facial bones.

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“Her right foot was attached only by a piece of tendon or skin,” Loewen said, noting the photographs of her wounds were “quite disturbing.”

In April of 2015, Black pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder, and the Crown quickly applied for a dangerous offender designation which would allow a judge to impose an indeterminate prison sentence. Black attempted to have his guilty plea expunged after he learned of the Crown’s intentions, but his application was denied.

At Black’s dangerous offender hearing, which has been ongoing since March, his personal and psychological history was examined in detail. Dr. Shabehram Lorhasbe, who gave evidence for the Crown, said Black is likely affected by no fewer than eight separate conditions including antisocial personality disorder, childhood AD/HD, and suspected fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The court heard of Black’s tragic personal history as well, which included witnessing the violent stabbing death of his own mother on his ninth birthday.

Although Black will not be labelled a dangerous offender, the actual sentence he will serve has yet to be determined. Attempted murder carries a five-year minimum sentence in Canada, but the lawyers on both sides requested time to research and file relevant case law with the court.

“The sooner, the better,” Loewen said, and adjourned the case until Sept. 22 when he will render his final sentencing decision.

Outside the courthouse, Marlene Bird said it’s painful to see her attacker in court but she felt it was important for Black to see her.

“He just looked at me and looked down,” Bird said. “Didn’t say sorry.”

Bird said she worries Black will continue to be violent in the future, and deserves the dangerous offender designation.

“He’ll do that to somebody else,” she said. “He’s got to learn not to treat women like that.”

Bird’s long-time partner Patrick Levallee also expressed disappointment at both the dangerous offender decision and at the prospect of waiting even longer to learn Black’s sentence.

“When they let him out, I hope Marlene gets her legs back,” Levallee said. “She’s a strong lady, this girl.”

Black’s defence lawyer Brent Little declined to comment.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews