Only In Canada

Attacking an elderly person shouldn't bar this woman from working with children:

An Ottawa judge has granted a conditional discharge for a woman who attacked her elderly neighbours in their home as they were sitting down to dinner, causing a deep gash to the man’s right forearm and extensive bruising to his wife’s right arm.

Manon Rail pleaded guilty in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice to unlawfully entering the apartment of Margaret and Thomas Keogh. She knocked on their door on Oct. 12, 2022 and pushed her way into the couple’s home.

“She demanded the keys to the apartment that belonged to a previous tenant. When Margaret Keogh told her to leave, she refused and got physical with Mrs. Keogh before then pushing Thomas Keogh, who fell and sustained injuries to his arm which required an overnight stay at the hospital,” Justice Adriana Doyle wrote in a recent decision. “Ms. Rail then pushed Mrs. Keogh, took her purse, and fled. Ms. Keogh chased her down to retrieve her purse. Ms. Rail then left.” ...

The Crown argued unsuccessfully for a conditional sentence of one year, with Rail serving the first half on house arrest, then being subject to a curfew for the last six months, to be followed by 18 months of probation.

“The defence is requesting a conditional discharge, emphasizing that this is Ms. Rail’s first time before the courts, that she has pleaded guilty, and that a criminal record would affect her employment in the public school system. Ms. Rail currently works with children with learning disabilities,” said the judge’s decision.

Doyle found “that a fit sentence is a conditional discharge.” ...

 

Because Canada.