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Hope man gets 4 month sentence for assault after bear-spraying another man during fight

Bronson Shane Boxall got into an altercation with a co-worker on a Chilliwack job site in 2021
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A Hope man got a four-month conditional sentence order for bear-spraying another man during a 2021 fight in Chilliwack.

A Hope man who bear-sprayed another man during a fight has been given a four-month conditional sentence order (CSO) that includes a curfew.

Bronson Shane Boxall, 28, heard the verdict Thursday (March 16) at the Chilliwack Law Courts, from B.C. Provincial Judge Tina Dion. The sentence includes a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and other conditions, and will be followed by a year’s probation.

Boxall pleaded guilty to assault for an incident that took place Nov. 3, 2021. On that day he was working on a job site in Chilliwack and started jawing at a male co-worker. Boxall wanted to fight and threatened the co-worker, telling him he knew where he lived. The two men left the job site and got into a fistfight.

When his opponent started to get the better of him, Boxall pulled out bear-spray and got him in the face three or four times.

Crown pointed out Boxall’s history of violent altercations, with eight on his record. Crown also pointed out previous weapons offences, including one from 2018 when Boxall was found with bear-spray, a machete and a shotgun in the trunk of his vehicle.

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Defence lawyer Jayse Reveley asked for a three-month CSO, telling Dion that four months would interfere with Boxall’s employment as a painter during the summer, when longer days might mean overtime. He told her his client has seen a counsellor three times this year and pointed out that it has been 10 years since his last conviction for a violent offence.

Boxall’s Indigenous background came up, with a Gladue report noting a difficult upbringing that included drug use at a young age.

Reveley told the judge that Boxall had bear-spray on him the day of the assault not because he intended to use it on a human, but because he was worried about wildlife wandering onto the job site.

Dion didn’t buy it.

“I question whether or not having bear-spray on his person as a painter is for a legitimate purpose,” she said.

Dion was forceful as she directly addressed Boxall, telling him he’s 28 years old and he should know better.

“The sentence takes into account what I find to be very serious bad judgement on your point Mr. Boxall,” she said. “You come to the point as a grown adult, as you are, that you can’t have bear spray and use that weapon on people.”

Conditions attached to Boxall’s CSO include a no-contact order for the assault victim. Normally he’d get a weapons prohibition as well, but he’s already barred from having weapons until 2038 because of the 2018 incident.


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eric.welsh@theprogress.com

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Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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