Mitchell Nippard’s pending criminal cases wrapped up Wednesday, when he was sentenced to 30 more days behind bars for assaulting a fellow inmate.
Nippard pleaded guilty to assaulting Justin Jordan in the special handling unit of Her Majesty’s Penitentiary last May.
Jordan is said to have approached Nippard in an aggressive manner, and Nippard responded by first kicking Jordan, then hitting him five times in the face. Jordan did not fight back, and the incident was captured on surveillance video. Jordan didn’t have any serious injuries.
Nippard declined to address the court when asked if he had anything to say.
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Prosecutor Jude Hall told the court Nippard has previous similar convictions in two other provinces. He suggested a jail sentence of 60 days consecutive to the sentence Nippard is currently serving.
Defense lawyer Shanna Wicks suggested a sentence of between 15 and 30 days, saying Nippard has been housed in the special handling unit for several months, and it has been hard on his health and well-being.
Nippard, 26, is one of three men who were sentenced at the end of July in connection with two home invasions in Paradise last year. He received an eight-year jail term, Tyler Donahue received five years, and Abdifatah Mohamed received a jail sentence of 11 years.
The trio had pleaded not guilty but were convicted after a lengthy trial of the home invasions, which saw masked intruders enter homes on Milton Road and Angel’s Road and rob the people inside. In the first incident, the intruders tied up a number of people and taped their mouths before ransacking the home, beating a man in the head with a gun and making off with cash and jewelry. In the second, they forced their way into the home of a pregnant young woman and her baby daughter, taking an Xbox, the woman’s engagement ring and winning lotto tickets worth more than $1,000.
Jordan, 27, was awaiting court for his own charge of assaulting an inmate at the time Nippard assaulted him. Two weeks ago, Jordan was sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing accused murderer Trent Butt with a five- to seven-inch knife made from a piece of an exit sign during recreation period at HMP last June.
In handing down his sentence on Wednesday, Judge Colin Flynn said he was taking into account the lengthy jail term Nippard is already serving, but ordered that the 30 days be served consecutive to that one.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
