A Ukrainian refugee who nearly died following an unprovoked knife attack in front of Canada’s beacon to human rights says his hope for a better life here has been replaced by “fear, anxiety and trauma.”
“I constantly replay events in my mind” and suffer “nightmares and a pervasive sense of vulnerability,” Volodymir Ishchenko wrote in a victim impact statement that was read out in court Tuesday for the sentencing of 21-year-old Tyson Cole Bechard.
Bechard was one of three males arrested following the July 1, 2022, stabbing just steps away from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
“They encroached on the most intimate thing I have — my life — without any reason, no questions, no warning.”–Volodymir Ishchenko
“The place where this incident took place is near the Canadian Museum for Human Rights… people have fought and died for centuries for their rights and freedoms,” said Ishchenko.
“This museum shows us the price and value of (human rights) and people unknown to me wipe their feet on what you and I are building together today. They encroached on the most intimate thing I have — my life — without any reason, no questions, no warning.”
Bechard has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for his part in the attack; he admitted he punched Ishchenko two times in the head.
Crown attorney Melissa Schrader urged provincial court Judge Vincent Sinclair to sentence Bechard to six years in prison.
The attack “was completely unprovoked, completely gratuitous… it did not need to happen,” Schrader said.
Ishchenko and a male friend, also a Ukrainian refugee, had been in Winnipeg just two weeks when they crossed paths with Bechard, co-accused Jayden Martin, a male youth accused and a fourth male who wasn’t charged.
Court was told Ishchenko and his friend were crossing Israel Asper Way, near the museum, around 10:40 p.m. when Ishchenko’s friend accidentally bumped into one of Bechard’s group, apologized and continued walking.
Bechard and his two co-accused started yelling at Ishchenkco and his friend and charged at them, Schrader told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts.
Martin had a knife and the youth accused had a can of bear spray.
“Mr. Ishchenko stopped, asked what was going on and apologized to the other group,” before the youth accused discharged the bear spray, Schrader said.
Ishchenko, who caught the spray in his face, fell to the ground, “asking ‘what is wrong, I don’t understand anything. Stop,’” Schrader said.
“Mr. Martin came up to Mr. Ishchenko and said something that Mr. Ishchenko did not understand,” she said. “Mr. Martin then stabbed Mr. Ishchenko in the neck, causing the blade to break off in his neck.”
Bechard punched Ishchenko two times in the head as he pleaded: “Comrades, I’m from Ukraine. I’m from Ukraine.”
It was at this point, Schrader said, that one of the males in Bechard’s group shook the hands of the two Ukrainian men and apologized before fleeing with Bechard’s group.
“They told me my chances of survival were half and half. I don’t know how to convey… being one step away from death.”– Volodymir Ishchenko
Ishchenko’s friend flagged down a passerby, who called 911. Ishchenko underwent surgery for two stab wounds to his neck and a collapsed lung. He spent five days in hospital.
“One of the first surgical procedures was to insert a tube into my lungs and make an incision into my spine,” Ishchenko wrote in his victim impact statement.
“The pain was unbearable, even under the influence of a surgical drug… They told me my chances of survival were half and half. I don’t know how to convey… being one step away from death.”
Security video showed Bechard, Martin and the youth accused boarding a city bus minutes after the attack. Security video on the bus recorded the group laughing and boasting about the assault and wondering if it would be on the news.
Bechard can be heard on the video complaining about his hand hurting from punching the victim.
“I literally decked that guy in the f—ing head like four times, boof, boof, boof,” Bechard said.
Martin has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and has yet to be sentenced. As with Bechard, prosecutors are recommending he be sentenced to six years in prison.
Bechard, who has no prior record, should not receive the same sentence as Martin, said defence lawyer Tony Kavanagh, noting it is accepted Bechard did not know Martin was armed with a knife.
“This all took place very quickly,” Kavanagh said. “He did not know at the time he punched the individual that he had been stabbed… It was Mr. Martin who chose to take a knife out of his backpack… My client had nothing to do with that.”
Sinclair said he needs time to consider the sentencing recommendations. A decision date has not been set.
“But I think it’s probably safe to say you are going to the penitentiary,” Sinclair told Bechard.
Bechard remains free on bail.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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