By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Sentencing date set for Denzel Bird

Apr 20, 2018 | 11:12 AM

LETHBRIDGE – A sentencing decision is anticipated on June 15, in the aggravated sexual assault case of Denzel Dre Colton Bird.

The date for a verdict was scheduled Friday morning, April 20, following sentencing submissions earlier this month, in which the Crown prosecutor recommended a term of 20-years in prison for Bird, while the defence suggested a prison sentence of up to eight years.

Bird pleaded guilty last September admitting that he randomly attacked a 25-year-old woman as she walked to work on the morning of Sept. 30, 2016.

Through an agreed statement of facts, it was revealed that after the woman walked by Bird, he approached her from behind and struck her in the head with a metal pipe. She fell to the ground, where the Crown believes she hit her face on the pavement. Bird then dragged her into an alley, removed some of her clothing and sexually assaulted her, noting that he knew he had hurt his victim badly. He then tried to put the victim into a garbage bin that he tipped on its side, tossed her clothing beside a fence and the pipe into someone’s front yard.

He then returned to a garage where he had found the pipe earlier and went to sleep, before later being asked to leave by the homeowner.

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The victim meanwhile, was found by two men who were on their way to work. Paramedics arrived a short time later, noting that the woman was near death.

Following Bird’s arrest, he initially denied having any involvement in the attack but ultimately broke down and admitted everything to police.

In a victim impact statement from the young woman, she told the court that the attack left her with multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain, forcing doctors to put her into a medically induced coma for several weeks, during which time they didn’t know if she would survive.

She spent four months in hospital and had to re-learn things like walking and talking. She still suffers from balance and coordination issues, she cannot smell, and has been treated for one sexually transmitted disease that Bird gave her, with ongoing testing for any other diseases that may still arise. She also struggles with her emotions and has significant memory issues, including a gap that covers the attack, and her wedding and honeymoon before that.