Rowe sentenced to four months house arrest

Will also serve two years probation

A Sheaves Cove man convicted of assaulting a neighbour and resisting arrest last summer was sentenced in Stephenville Provincial Court on May 19.

Judge Jacqueline Jenkins handed Robert Joseph Rowe a four-month conditional sentence on a charge of assault causing bodily harm involving fellow Sheaves Cove resident Shelley Jesso.

He will serve the term at his residence, under the administration of a supervisor and must follow a set of rules set out by the court. The sentence does not prohibit Mr. Rowe from working as a fisher person, but he must remain on his property when not at work.

The judge also sentenced Mr. Rowe to two years probation on the assault charge.

Mr. Rowe was given a suspended sentence and one-year probation on the charge of resisting arrest, which will run concurrently with the other probation order. He was also ordered to submit a DNA analysis to the court.

If the convicted does not follow the rules of the conditional sentence or probation orders, the judge said he would be brought back to court and face the likelihood of serving the rest of the sentence in jail.

Judge Jenkins called the altercation between Mr. Rowe Ms. Jesso on the evening of Aug. 25 2009, a single isolated incident that was not premeditated.

"Mr. Rowe is not a danger to re-offend, nor is he a threat to Ms. Jesso," said Judge Jenkins.

She said Mr. Rowe's actions that evening were out of character, having no prior Criminal Code convictions, nor a history of violent behaviour. The judge noted Mr. Rowe accepted responsibility for his actions and that he offered apologies to Ms. Jesso and her family.

Judge Jenkins said Mr. Rowe had been vilified throughout the province and the country due to public demonstrations and pictures appearing on Facebook prior to the trial. She noted he was arrested and handcuffed in his home with his family present, and had property destroyed by unknown persons.

"There is no doubt Robert Rowe has been deterred [from re-offending]," said Judge Jenkins.

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