On Feb. 23, 2007, 98-year-old Evelyn Bell sat awake all night at her kitchen table.
She had a black eye, bruises and a fractured pinky finger — all remnants of a fight with her youngest son, Alan Muir Bell, the adult child who had, literally, spit in her face.
He now faces 18 months’ probation, anger management counselling, substance abuse treatment and mental health counselling.
Crown attorney Melanie Perry said Bell’s plea bargain last Friday was the best possible for Evelyn Bell, who died last summer before she could testify in court.
“The sentence was perhaps not as harsh as we would have liked to have seen, but if we hadn’t been able to get (Evelyn Bell’s) statement in, we wouldn’t have had a case,” said Perry, who also banned Bell from owning weapons, from drinking alcohol or taking non-prescription drugs.
Perry said the elderly are at higher risk of being taken advantage of by those they trust, and the Crown wants people to know those who prey on seniors will be prosecuted.
“When I imagine Evelyn Bell sitting at that table, afraid she was going to further enrage her baby, it makes me feel ill,” Perry said.
