A Nanaimo man is expected to be sent to jail after he used a wooden pole to assault a senior on a scooter.
James Leslie Kelman, 60, who has no legs below the knee, appeared in a Nanaimo courtroom on Wednesday in relation to a charge of assault with a weapon.
Kelman, who requires the use of prosthetics after he lost his legs in a train accident as a child, pleaded guilty.
He had driven his truck to the King Arthur’s Court apartment building on Fifth Street on Oct. 9, 2012, when the victim, a 73-year-old man in a mobility scooter, approached his car.
The two know one another through family and had prior conflicts before the incident.
Kelman was seen by a witness beating the man with a wooden pole he retrieved from his truck.
The elderly man attempted to flee and was chased by Kelman until the fight was broken up by the witness, a resident of the apartment complex.
The altercation left the victim battered and bruised.
The Crown sought a year of jail time for Kelman, while defence lawyer Michael Ritzker argued that a conditional sentence might be more appropriate.
“There’s a long-standing animosity between these two,” Ritzker said.
Provincial court Judge Douglas Cowling indicated that Kelman could expect a jail sentence of 120 days in jail.
Kelman was scheduled to appear Sept. 3 to fix a date for sentencing.
