Sentence Hiked for Man Who Cut Off Woman's Finger and Forced Her to Eat It
The appeal panel said the original sentence ignored the victim’s suffering and imposed a term far below the Crown’s request.
- On Thursday, the Alberta Court of Appeal increased Stephen Ralph Potts' sentence to 7.5 years, overturning the original four-year term for his 2024 aggravated assault of an Indigenous woman in Chateh.
- Potts repeatedly punched the victim, breaking her jaw and facial bones, then ordered her to splay her fingers and severed her top pinky joint, forcing her to eat it.
- Justice G.R. Ambrose originally sentenced Potts to four years, proceeding without the victim's impact statement and describing her life as "hardscrabble," concluding the injury was not "life threatening or life altering."
- The Appeal Court labeled the original sentence "demonstrably unfit," finding Ambrose's comments "descended into what can only be described as a character assassination" of the complainant.
- Her impact statement, located weeks after sentencing, revealed lasting trauma marked by "PAIN," metal facial plates, and inability to chew solid foods; she wrote she would "Never be the same.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Appeal court increases sentence for Alberta man who cut off woman's finger, forced her to eat it
An appeal court in Alberta has nearly doubled the sentence for a man who cut off a woman's finger and then forced her to eat her own severed digit, saying in a ruling that the original judge downplayed the victim's suffering and terror.
Sentence doubled for man who cut off woman's finger and forced her to eat it
An appeal court in Alberta has nearly doubled the sentence for a man who cut off a woman’s finger and then forced her to eat her own severed digit, saying in a ruling that the original judge downplayed the victim’s suffering and terror. Stephen Ralph Potts was convicted of aggravated assault after inviting an Indigenous […]
Winnipeg Free Press
Sentence hiked for man who cut off woman's finger and forced her to eat it
EDMONTON - An appeal court in Alberta has nearly doubled the sentence for a man who cut off a woman's finger and then forced her to eat her own severed digit, saying in a ruling that the original judge downplayed the victim's suffering and terror.
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