Humans and their horn
- August 24, 2021
Kaniehto Horn, an Australian aboriginal man, is facing up to two years in jail after pleading guilty to causing bodily harm with a deadly weapon.
Horn has pleaded guilty to a charge of causing bodily injury with a dangerous weapon and a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act for having a deadly weapons.
Horn is scheduled to enter a plea on Aug. 18.
Horn was one of more than a dozen aboriginal men who were arrested in early December 2016 in an operation in which police used a taser and a baton on four men.
One of the men suffered a gunshot wound to the neck.
Horn’s case was investigated by the RCMP.
On Monday, the Crown had asked for a four-year sentence and the maximum penalty was 10 years in prison.
The Crown asked for the maximum sentence to be increased from five to 10 years for the other four defendants.
The court heard that Horn had been charged with three counts of possessing a dangerous weapons.
He was also charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, three counts relating to the possession of a dangerous instruments and one count relating to possession of an explosive substance.
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Ian Fonagy said he was satisfied the Crown would prove Horn’s use of a deadly instrument to cause serious bodily harm was not accidental.
Horn admitted to the charge and accepted the Crown was satisfied it was a case of intentional killing.
Horn said he is “a human being and not a weapon.”
Horn will have to undergo a mental health assessment before he is sentenced.
“I am committed to doing the right thing for my family and for myself,” Horn said in a written statement to the court.
“My family, friends and colleagues are my greatest supporters and I hope that they will continue to support me in my efforts to make amends.”
Horn said it was “very humbling” to be part of the justice system and was “not a way to go out.”
The case was first reported in the Canadian newspaper The Province.
The case has sparked a social media backlash online.
“We are outraged,” one woman wrote on Facebook.
“The most violent aboriginal people in Canada have no right to defend themselves.
They can’t be treated with any respect whatsoever.”
Horn is not the first person to face charges under the country’s Dangerous Weapons Act.
In 2012, an aboriginal woman pleaded guilty in Nova Scotia to causing death by assault after she stabbed a man with a knife.
She was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to undergo an alcohol-and-drug counselling program.
Horn, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, will also be required to take a drug counselling course.
