A hockey coach who tripped up two young Richmond players during a post-game handshake was stunned when he was handed a 15-day jail sentence on Tuesday.
Martin Tremblay admitted assaulting the two Richmond Steel players following a heated spring hockey gold medal game at the UBC Thunderbird Arena last June.
The Crown had asked for his sentence to be served in the com-munity, while Tremblay's defense counsel had asked for a lesser conditional sentence.
It was, therefore, a surprise when Richmond Provincial Court's Judge Patrick Chen told Tremblay he would, starting Tuesday (yesterday), be taken to Surrey Pre-trial centre to begin a jail term. After one day in custody, Tremblay will then be released, before serving the rest of his sentence on consecutive weekends.
A shocked and red-faced Tremblay put his hands in his pockets when the sentence was passed and then offered his hands behind his back to be cuffed by the sheriff officer.
Referring to Tremblay's tripping as a "cowardly sucker-punch of an unsuspecting victim," the judge said society "will not tolerate the assault of children by adults.
"If anything, the need for deterrence is stronger here, as he was a coach at the time . this could have generated into riotous behaviour and the court has a high duty to protect children."
Tremblay's lawyer, Bob Bellows, asked for the jail term to run intermittently, so his client could continue working to support his family.
