Not guilty verdict in Nanaimo self-defence stabbing trial
NANAIMO — A BC Supreme Court judge ruled a man reasonably defended himself in the near-fatal stabbing of another man in Nanaimo’s Harewood neighbourhood.
Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten acquitted Matthew Dean Tremblay, 28, who was on trial for aggravated assault and assault with a weapon for stabbing a then 25-year-old man four times outside the former King Arthurs Court housing complex.
The judge said Tremblay acted appropriately after he was faced with an unprovoked attack by Brendan Lapoleon on the early morning hours of March 31, 2018, which was caught on video surveillance.
“After considering Mr. Tremblay’s evidence in conjunction with the other evidence I am left with reasonable doubt that he was acting in unlawful self-defence, and as a result I must find him not guilty.”