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Woman receives 28-month sentence in Lethbridge stabbing

Dec 21, 2016 | 2:45 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A 23-year old woman who was found guilty of stabbing a 21-year old man four times over an argument last February, was handed a 28-month prison sentence Tuesday.

Peggy Ann Holy Singer was convicted following her trial last month and found guilty of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and breaching a recognizance that said she could not be in possession of a weapon.

Judge Paul Pharo found that on February 17, 2016, Holy Singer drove from Cardston to Lethbridge with three other individuals, all of whom were heavily intoxicated. After parking behind a home on the west side, an argument broke out between the victim and another woman. Holy Singer joined the argument and her and the victim agreed to fight, however he was not aware that she was armed with a kitchen knife.

With help from the other woman, Holy Singer stabbed the victim in the right cheek, bicep, chest and thigh, resulting in a punctured lung and other major injuries. She then went inside the home and hid the knife in a vent.

Holy Singer would later tell police that the victim had the knife, and that after attacking her he tried jumping over a fence and fell on the weapon.

After realizing that he had been stabbed, the victim asked for help from the other individual in their group and he was taken to the Chinook Regional Hospital where he underwent surgery. He developed flesh eating disease during his treatment, resulting in more surgeries, before going on to make a full recovery.

In reviewing a pre-sentence report and Gladue report, which examined Holy Singer’s Aboriginal heritage and how it impacted her, Pharo noted that she had been abandoned at birth by both of her parents and lived with her grandmother. He explained that her grandmother and parents had been in residential schools, and she learned that alcohol and violence were the only tools she had to deal with her problems.

The report stated that Holy Singer started drinking at the age of 16, and when her grandmother died two years later, she started drinking heavily. In addition to losing the most supportive person in her life, she also formed ties to a local gang, which furthered her problems.

Pharo stated that he’s hopeful she will seek the treatment she needs while in custody.

With a credit of 1.5 for each day spent in pre-trial custody, Holy Singer was given 10-months credit, leaving her with 18-months on her sentence.