Jesse Owens hurled a cell phone at his girlfriend, striking the woman in the face and knocking out two front teeth.
His alcohol-fueled attack landed him in a Sault Ste. Marie courtroom, where the 31-year-old Owen Sound resident pleaded guilty Friday to assault causing bodily harm.
City police were dispatched to a Wellington Street address on Jan.17, after the victim's mother reported her daughter had been assaulted by her boyfriend, the court heard.
When officers arrived, the woman was being assessed by paramedics and refused to go to hospital, assistant Crown attorney Adrianna Mucciarelli said.
The couple had been together for two-and-a-half years after meeting through an online dating site, she told Ontario Court Justice Dana Peterson.
When police later located Owens, he jumped out of a second-floor window of a building falling 18 feet to the ground.
"Alcohol was a factor," the prosecutor said.
The Crown and defence lawyer Ken Walker jointly proposed a 90-day jail sentence, followed by probation, but disagreed about how the time should be served.
Walker called for an intermittent sentence, which his client would serve on weekends.
Owens has a new full-time job, which begins July 10, his lawyer told Peterson.
Since the incident, he has been going to counselling and "has been clean and sober."
Mucciarelli said the accused has a criminal record with prior convictions for domestic violence.
This is an aggravating factor, she said, noting the "Crown had a strong case."
Owens' early guilty plea is mitigating and spares the complainant from having to testify and also saves court time, the prosecutor added.
His convictions are virtually directly or indirectly related to alcohol, Walker said.
Owens told the court, thanks to a new counsellor who understands him, he realizes "alcohol is my escape" and is now addressing his issues.
"Alcohol gave me diabetes and I'm going to die if I don't fix it," he told Peterson. "I feel it's about time to turn my life around."
Calling his guilty plea an indication of remorse, the judge noted he has "taken active steps to address the factors behind the charges."
But this is violence against a partner — violence so significant to her face that she lost two teeth — and also is a breach of trust, she said.
As well, Peterson pointed to his criminal record, which includes three prior convictions for assault involving another partner, as aggravating.
"A custodial sentence is required," she told Owens.
Peterson said because of his employment offer, she was imposing an intermittent sentence, and recommending that he serve the time at the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene.
She told Owens court officers would be transporting him to the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre for intake.
Then beginning on Friday (July 14), he must show up at CNCC at 8 p.m. and remain there until Sunday at 8 p.m. each weekend until he completes the intermittent sentence.
Once he has done his time, Owens will be on probation for 18 months with conditions that include counselling for alcohol misuse and domestic violence.
He can have no communication with the victim and must remain away from her.
During the first six months, he must pay $500 restitution for a laptop he damaged.
Peterson also imposed a five-year weapons prohibition and ordered him to provide DNA samples for the national registry.