A Supreme Court justice recently sentenced a Miminegash man to five months in jail for the injury he inflicted on a man outside a Charlottetown bar.
But he also delivered an important message to others inclined to solve disputes with their fists: such behaviour is unacceptable.
Justice John Mitchell sentenced the man last week for rendering another man unconscious with a single punch that resulted in a fractured skull, jaw and orbital bone and a badly cut lip.
The victim, who had to be transferred to hospital in Halifax, also sustained a brain injury that has affected his memory and speech.
In sentencing, Justice Mitchell told the defendant other such punches have caused death, and that young people, particularly young men, need to learn that they can't use their fists to settle arguments.
He’s right. The price of bravado can be steep.
As this case showed, one reckless punch can drastically change the life of the assailant and the victim.
This editorial first appeared in The Guardian.
