A Revelstoke man avoided jail time after pleading guilty to assaulting his common-law girlfriend in court last week.
Instead, Michael Jason Kipping was given a suspended sentence and two years of probation for the violent assault on his partner.
The incident took place on Sept. 14, 2014, when Kipping attacked his girlfriend while she held their two-year-old child in her arms. The victim wound up in hospital as a result of the attack, while the child is now under government care.
Crown prosecutor Bill Hilderman told the court the events leading up to the assault began Friday, Sept. 12, when Kipping returned home five hours late after going out to get some cigarettes. The victim, believing he was unfaithful, locked him out of the home and told him to come back in the morning to get his stuff and leave.
On Sunday, things boiled over between the two and Kipping started to break things around the home. The victim tried to leave, but he stopped her, shoving her against the door and smacking her around.
She tried to lock herself in the bedroom, but he broke open the door and continued to beat her while she held their two-year-old child. He punched her in the nose and hit her in the face several times, giving her two black eyes.
She was brought to Queen Victoria Hospital, where police were called to investigate.
According to Hilderman, this wasn't the first time Kipping had assaulted her.
Despite this, the victim provided a note to the court saying she wanted to get back together with Kipping and have a no contact order lifted.
Hilderman recommended a suspended sentence with a lengthy period of probation.
Kipping, 43, told the court he didn't agree with all the facts, but admitted that he did assault the victim.
His lawyer Chris Johnston told the court that Kipping was a spoiled child from a well-off family who fell into drug use and crime and was cut loose by his parents.
Kipping said he accepted responsibility for the assault and he was trying to move ahead to bring his family back together.
Justice Edmund De Walle called the circumstances "troubling" and noted Kipping did have a criminal record, though none of the previous incidents were violent.
"The courts have made it clear that this type of behaviour is to be denounced," said De Walle.
He said a suspended sentence was on the "low end" but agreed to it, placing Kipping on two years probation. De Walle did not lift the no contact order in place, saying the girlfriend was in a vulnerable position and that could lead to re-victimizing the her, "and I am not prepared to allow that to happen."
"She was in her home, in her own bedroom with the door closed. You kicked it in and assaulted her with the child in her arms," he said. "For her now to say she wants to have contact you, that's fine, that can take place in the future, but before that happens the court needs to know you have completed the necessary counselling to ensure this will never happen again."