Warning: This story contains content and language some readers may find distressing.
Friends and family packed the Cranbrook Courthouse on Friday, May 30 in support of Michelle Cubin, who was assaulted by Colin Harrison outside of the Healing Hollow, the business she owns in Kimberley, in September 2024.
Following the proceedings, Judge Tyleen Underwood said she would need time to weigh the facts and determine the sentencing for Harrison. A sentencing date is expected to be set June 12. The crown requested nine to 12 months in jail, followed by two years probation with conditions.
The court first heard the agreed upon facts from attorney Shawn Miller, who represented Cubin.
The court heard that the defendant's wife Erin Harrison had been employed at Cubin's business the Healing Hollow, located in Kimberley's downtown core known locally as The Platzl, for two years. Erin was fired two weeks prior to the incident. On September 28, 2024, Cubin was standing outside behind the business with another employee when Colin Harrison drove into the alley.
Cubin, worried for her safety, asked her employee to start filming. Harrison, who was described as being "angry and belligerent," came up to Cubin demanding she pay his wife and said he was going to "kick your fucking ass."
Cubin was dragged, pushed and punched in the head and body. Her pants were torn. She fell to the ground and Harrison continued to kick her while she was on the ground, and kicked her in the head. The assault lasted for several minutes and a crowd began to gather and an employee tried to intervene until Harrison finally stopped and left the scene.
RCMP were called and Harrison was arrested at 11:30 a.m. and he admitted to "roughing up" Cubin. Harrison later pleaded guilty to assault.
A distraught Cubin was taken to the hospital. She had a scalp hematoma, or goose egg, multiple soft tissue injuries, bruising, abrasions and a concussion.
The assault has had lasting physical and emotional impacts on Cubin. She has a decreased range of motion and persisting pain in her shoulder, with the arm she held up in an attempt to defend herself from her assailant. She's had months of follow-up treatments. She had migraines prior to the attack, but they are now more frequent and more severe and she has post-concussion syndrome.
Cubin, who was sat directly behind Harrison in the courtroom, was in tears as a victim impact statement she'd written was read on her behalf by a community based victim services coordinator from Summit Community Services.
Following the hearing, Cubin said that was the closest she's been to him since the day of the attack.
"I felt a little bit sick, like I felt like I was going to get sick and then I calmed down," she said. "I’ve seen him in passing while driving and that’s unsettling, but today was definitely unsettling. It’s difficult to be around him, both of them actually. And I get that they’re both struggling too on some level, but none of it needed to happen the way that it did."
Cubin wrote that it was difficult to write her impact statement due to a lack of concentration and brain fog she's had since the attack, that has also impacted her work and many other aspects of her life.
She described herself as an independent person; a single mother and a business owner, who up until Sept. 28 2024, had never feared males before.
Cubin was joined in court by her two sons. She said during the attack, she worried that had Harrison kept kicking her in the head she would go unconscious and never see her boys again. She described just waiting for it to stop and then sitting on the ground, stunned. She remembered the moment her boys, aged 13 and 20, showed up and said it was just a horrible place to be.
She said she hates sounding like a victim, and described the assault as an alienating and life-changing experience, with Harrison's actions impacting her day-to-day life. She said "life does not seem as hopeful" and that Harrison's actions that day "tainted things."
With Harrison still in the community, she said she and her kids experience fear and anxiety daily and they frequently see him out and about.
The victim impact statement was one of six exhibits entered by Crown Counsel, as well as the pre-sentence report (PSR) with Harrison's guilty plea, a conviction list with a previous assault charge Harrison has, five photos depicting Cubin on the day of the attack, the Interior Health emergency outpatient report with diagnosis and treatment, and further medical records including follow-up treatment and appointment from then till now.
Miller told Underwood that this assault was indeed aggravated, as Harrison sought out Cubin to assault her. He said it was a violent, prolonged and public assault. At times Harrison was on top of her, kicking her in the head and Cubin was helpless, that all she could do was scream for help. Miller said the assault was as serious as it gets without using a weapon and that in some ways it's fortunate her injuries weren't worse.
He said the attack was "uniquely terrifying" and "humiliating," and called it a "vigilante-style attack." He said that if not strongly deterred and denounced it sends the message that people should take justice into their own hands.
He told the judge that it has been five to six years since Harrison, now 50, was before the court for another violent offence: he had been charged for assault with a weapon after attacking his brother with a pipe.
Miller said the PSR was "neutral," with the accused showing some insight, as being "bitter and quick to anger", but said that insight is undermined by what the PSR writer described as "minimizing and deflecting blame onto the victim."
Asking for nine to 12 months in jail, followed by two years probation and a DNA order, Miller said "jail really is the only option." Miller said Harrison's conditional sentence for his previous assault charge did not prove to be a deterrent, as six years later he carried out a prolonged and public attack on Cubin that showed "profound recklessness," as he said Harrison knew the attack was in broad daylight and didn't care if he was caught.
Harrison's defence attorney, Tanner Hinman, said he was seeking a conditional sentence, accepted the agreed upon facts and had no issue with the order or terms of probation proposed.
He said his client, who has lived in Kimberley for much of his life, had worked at the airport until health issues forced him to resign in 2022 and he's been unemployed since then. He said Harrison has sought treatment for his numerous health issues and found nothing that alleviates his symptoms, putting him in a "frustrating position." These include heart problems, asthma, neurophathy, diverticulitis, long COVID and migraines. He said his memory and ability to think and reason have "become a real issue."
Since quitting his job, Hinman said Harrison's life had change drastically. His wife worked two jobs, and they burned through savings as he tried to start a from-home stained glass business. He said the culmination of untreatable medical issues and financial stress caused him to snap. Since then, he said Harrison has made some efforts to rehabilitate, including completing a two day, 16-hour anger management course, and would have done more if he could afford to.
Hinman talked about the "public shame and stigma" stemming from the incident, including a recent public Facebook post with comments that Hinman said included name-calling, that he wasn't welcome in the community and suggestions of violence. Between that and the recent Global News article, Hinman said things had "been made to sound worse than the agreed upon facts," and that Harrison's "reputation was permanently scarred." He said this attack was "rare and out of character," the culmination of factors including being sick and unable to work and that his wife had lost her job.
He acknowledged that Harrison is "clearly impulsive" and anger management is an issue, but said something like this is "unlikely to occur in the future."
Harrison, who had sat in the courtroom quietly beside his wife, was given the opportunity to address the room. He said he "apologized profusely" to Cubin and her family for what he'd done.
"I've done an evil thing ... I affected her and her family," Harrison said. "I've done a bad thing and I accept whatever judgment you have."
Following the hearing, Cubin told media she was disappointed that a verdict wasn’t given that day. She also said she wasn’t happy with the nine to 12 month proposed sentence.
“I think he deserves a lot longer, he’s got anger issues. I know people make mistakes and they do things that they wouldn’t normally do, but he has a pattern of it. His wife worked for me long enough that I know what he’s about and I think that he should get more than two years."
The Bulletin will report more when the sentence is announced.
