Assault charges dropped against Ontario man who confronted home intruder
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A Lindsay, Ont., apartment tenant charged with assault last summer following a bloody pre-dawn fight with an intruder in his home will no longer face prosecution over the incident.
A Crown attorney on Thursday told a court in Lindsay — part of the city of Kawartha Lakes — there is no longer a reasonable prospect that Jeremy David “J.D.” McDonald may be convicted.
McDonald, 44, was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon following the confrontation last August, which set off a national debate about self-defence and the use of force in one’s own home.
The alleged intruder, Michael Kyle Breen, still faces four charges in connection with the Aug. 18 incident, including possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and breaking and entering.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre both demanded changes to legislation after Kawartha Lakes police announced the charges against McDonald.
Crown attorney Sarah Repka told the court on Thursday that prosecutors have since been able to review further evidence, including medical records and the results of forensic testing, that were not available to police when they first laid charges.
Court documents say McDonald wielded a knife in the altercation and that the intruder was armed with a crossbow. CBC News has also learned McDonald has a violent history, including a 2001 attack involving a baseball bat.
Kawartha Lakes police said they were called to an apartment at 3:20 a.m. after the tenant awoke to find an intruder in his home and an altercation broke out. They said Breen sustained life-threatening injuries in the encounter and had to be airlifted to a Toronto hospital — 100 kilometres away — for treatment.
Repka, the Crown attorney, underlined that investigators “clearly” had enough evidence last August to charge McDonald but that the threshold for continued prosecution is higher than for the initial laying of charges.
The court agreed to withdraw the two charges against McDonald.
Breen, 42, remains in custody and separately appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay by video link on Thursday morning.
“I almost lost my life,” he recounted at a previous court hearing. “I’m cut up from head to toe.”
Addressing the controversy in the days after charges were laid against McDonald, Kawartha Lakes police chief Kirk Robertson said investigators had examined “all of the information and evidence that was available.”
Robertson and McDonald’s lawyer Steve Norton did not immediately return requests for comment after charges were withdrawn. McDonald himself did not appear in court on Thursday.
McDonald had violent history, court docs show
Historical court records reviewed by CBC show he has a violent past.
McDonald pleaded guilty to three charges, including assault, following a 2001 incident involving a baseball bat. The more serious charge of assault with a weapon was withdrawn.
Seven years later, McDonald again pleaded guilty — this time to assault causing bodily harm — in connection with an attack on another man. He was sentenced to a three-month jail term and 18 months’ probation.
McDonald also admitted to breaching probation and, separately, failing to comply with a release order.
Court staff in Lindsay said records show McDonald faced criminal charges in three other historical cases but that detailed information sheets could not be found.
