Tuesday October 18, 2022
By Jonny Wakefield
The victims, whose identities are covered by a publication ban, described the horror of the attacks in impact statements read by family members
Richard Bradley Stevens began a sentencing hearing Monday, months after pleading guilty to assault and mischief for attacking a mother and daughter outside Southgate Centre in December 2020. PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia
A standing room only crowd packed an Edmonton provincial courtroom for the sentencing of a man whose attack on a pair of hijabi women terrified Muslims across the country.
Richard Bradley Stevens began a sentencing hearing Monday, months after pleading guilty to assault and mischief for attacking a mother and daughter outside Southgate Centre in December 2020.
The attack was the first in a string of alleged hate-motivated incidents against Black and Muslim women in the Edmonton area. The Crown is seeking a total sentence of 13 months in jail, while the defence is asking for an 18-24 month conditional sentence followed by a year of probation.
Judge Ferne LeReverend will give her decision Friday.
The case had to be rescheduled to a larger docket court to accommodate the 60 people attending on behalf of the victims, many of them Muslim women wearing hijabs.
The victims, whose identities are covered by a publication ban, described the horror of the attacks in impact statements read by family members. The mother came to Canada following civil war in Somalia and said the attack shook her confidence in Canadian multiculturalism and frightened Muslim women across the country.
“We planted roots in Canadian soil,” she said. “Canada gave me the beautiful life I dreamed of. But on Dec. 8 that was torn away from me again.”
“As my daughter and I screamed for help, no one came to aid us. We were chased, hunted. I didn’t know if we could survive it. I didn’t know if I could protect my daughter.”
‘Go back to (your) country’
Stevens, 43, sat beside his lawyer wearing a ketchup-coloured t-shirt bearing the words “Catch Up With Jesus.” Court heard he is being treated for mental health issues and requested admittance to Edmonton’s psychiatric hospital prior to the attacks after complaining about hearing voices.
According to an agreed statement of facts read during Stevens’ April guilty plea, the victims were sitting in their car in the Southgate parking lot when Stevens began to yell racial slurs and tell them to “go back to their country.” Stevens banged on the passenger side window, which eventually shattered.
Stevens, who was accompanied by his brother, left briefly then returned and chased one of the women after she got out of the car, pushing her to the ground and striking her until she lost consciousness. The other woman got out of the car to intervene, but Stevens chased her, too. Both women had their hijabs torn off during the ordeal.
While the women didn’t suffer serious injuries, “the mental trauma is significant and continues to be haunting,” Crown prosecutor Janet Valel said.
Court heard two duelling diagnoses that may have impacted Stevens’ behaviour the day of the attacks.
Dr. Matthew Rose, an addictions specialist with the Boyle McCauley Health Centre, concluded Stevens suffers from schizophrenia or a similar disorder. He said Stevens was intoxicated on methamphetamine, alcohol or both and believes he singled out the nearest set of people who looked different from him.
A psychiatric expert for the Crown suggested a diagnosis of an unspecified psychotic disorder related to substance use.
Valel said the court needs to send Stevens to jail to properly denounce and deter his conduct. She said most people with mental health and addictions issues don’t commit racially motivated attacks, noting Stevens was also “agitated” around the non-white arresting officer and a treating physician.
“This demonstrates a pattern of thinking that is very concerning,” she said.
She added Stevens has a “lengthy” criminal record, with 110 convictions, largely for property crimes and disobeying court orders. He was recently sentenced to 60 days in jail for a different assault while on release in 2021.
Defence lawyer Peter Keyes said allowing Stevens to serve his sentence on house arrest would not be a public safety risk. He said Stevens, who is living in a homeless shelter, has made “meritorious” steps in treating his mental health and addictions issues in the past year.
Stevens offered an apology, saying he was off his medication and believed the women were demons. LeReverend asked how that squared with the fact he called the women “f—ing Somalis” — a question Stevens said he did not know the answer to.