Man jailed for beach party stabbing incident

SUMMERSIDE - It was termed a cowardly crime that could have easily had a far more serious, even tragic outcome.
In P.E.I. Supreme Court Monday, 33-year-old Jason Clay Waite was sentenced to 20 months behind bars for assaulting one man and stabbing another at a May beach party, before damaging an unmarked police vehicle during his arrest.
"Stabbing someone in the back is a cowardly act," said Justice John Mitchell. "You're 33-years-old. It's time to grow up and stay out of the justice system."
Waite was set to go to trial on two counts of assault with a weapon - a knife - assault with a weapon causing bodily harm, two counts of aggravated assault and breach of probation.
But Monday he changed his plea to guilty on one count of assault with a weapon causing bodily harm and to aggravated assault after evidence showed Waite's DNA and that of the victim were on the weapon. The remaining charges were stayed.
Waite also pleaded guilty Monday to damaging the police vehicle.
It was late on May 23 that Waite went to a MacDonald's Shore beach party and started a fight with a young man, punching him several times in the face.
Later, when another man tried to stop Waite's upset friend from hurting himself, Waite stabbed that man in the back and in the side. He immediately fled and dumped the knife, which was found the next day and turned over to police.
Two days later, during his arrest in Charlottetown, Waite rammed his vehicle into an unmarked police car before surrendering to police.
The Alberton man, who has an extensive record that includes numerous assaults, has been in jail by his own consent since.
Waite's lawyer, Yolande Richard, said her client was heavily intoxicated the night of the beach-party incident and wouldn't have acted that way if he'd been sober. She apologized to the victims and their families on Waite's behalf.
The man who was stabbed spoke briefly in court. "If he's so sorry why can't he say it to my face?"
Waite simply replied, "I'm sorry man."
Mitchell sentenced Waite to 30 months for the stabbing, another two months for damaging the police vehicle and a six-month concurrent sentence for the aggravated assault. Waite was credited with 11-and a half months time served, reducing his sentence to a little over 20 months.
Once out of jail, he'll be on probation for 24 months, during which time he must undergo alcohol and drug assessment, counselling and treatment, stay away from the victims and pay $924 restitution.
Waite must provide a DNA sample and is prohibited from owning or possessing weapons for life.