The Windsor-shot video that became a smash hit on social media is horrific and sickening, and difficult to watch.
But portions of it were played at a sentencing hearing in a courtroom on Thursday.
A group of young males are shown swarming a complete stranger in downtown Windsor, beating him to the ground and then kicking and punching the defenceless individual as he’s curled up in the fetal position on the ground.
About half an hour later, as police are investigating and the injured victim is rushed to hospital with a broken jaw, the same five males — three barely into adulthood, and two youths — repeat the same savage mob attack a few downtown blocks away against another total stranger minding his own business.
The unprovoked attacks, which included robbing both victims, were then posted on social media platform Snapchat where, the court heard, they were widely shared. It didn’t take long, however, for some of those on the Snapchat receiving end to identify attackers and report names to police.
“The attacks were vicious, horrifying,” assistant Crown attorney Melissa Bachalo said at a sentencing hearing Thursday for one of the adults.
The victims here are … among the most vulnerable persons in our society
But those Aug. 27, 2022, attacks were made much worse, she said, by the personal circumstances surrounding the two separately targeted homeless men.
“The individuals who are the victims here are vulnerable persons, perhaps among the most vulnerable persons in our society,” Bachalo told Ontario Court Justice Shannon Pollock.
The five males were from Windsor. The criminal case is subject to a court publication ban on identities. Thursday’s sentencing was for one of the adult attackers — he’d only recently turned 18 — described as a secondary participant by his lawyer.
Frank Retar told the hearing his client was playing video games when he got a call from a cousin claiming to have been beaten up. The young man joined up with others in the downtown, and they randomly came across a stranger in the parking lot of a fast-food joint that Saturday at 4:23 a.m.
The video taken by one of the participants that was shown in court Thursday contained only a half-minute clip involving Retar’s client, who was wearing a face-covering balaclava. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a single count of aggravated assault in connection to the first attack.
Despite the kicking and punching to the face and body of the helpless man on the ground, Retar said his client was not a “ringleader” in the swarmings.
Not just shocking but cruel and degrading
Citing such “mitigating” factors as the guilty plea, the youthfulness of the offender, his lack of a criminal record and his family support and future prospects, Retar said the defence was seeking a conditional sentence.
While recognizing those same factors, the Crown’s Bachalo, describing the viciousness of the attack, argued that the judge had to send a message of denunciation and deterrence to others.
The prosecution is seeking a six-month jail sentence, to be followed by three years probation, as well as a lifetime weapons ban and DNA order.
Posting video of the attacks on social media “shows a level of pride” on the part of the perpetrators, said Bachalo, making their crime “not just shocking but cruel and degrading.”
Retar said his client, who only confessed to being involved as a “party” to the first assault, did not participate in either robbery.
Since the downtown assaults, Retar said his client’s family has moved out of the city, the young man has received anger management and other counselling and has volunteered community work hours.
“He is genuinely remorseful,” Retar said.
He said the young man wrote a letter of apology to his victim. That victim, of unknown address, never received the letter, the Star was told. The court heard neither victim submitted an impact statement to the court for the sentencing judge’s consideration.
Justice Pollock is scheduled to pronounce sentence on Oct. 9.
As for the other two young adults involved — both described as primary instigators — one was recently handed a nine-month jail sentence, while the criminal case against the other is still before the courts.