Pair Sentenced to 36 Months for Gay Attack

Two men have been sentenced to 36 months for the 2010 robbery and beating of a gay man in Windsor, Canada.

The Windsor Star reports that Superior Court justice Scott Campbell called Stephen Lambert and Michael Allard "bullies" while sentencing them for the alcohol-fueled attack, which prosecutors had tried to prove was a hate crime motivated by victim Chris Rabideau's homosexuality.

Campbell believed the pair used antigay slurs during the beating, but said without an eyewitness or photographic proof, there wasn't sufficient evidence for a hate-crime conviction.

In an interview, the victim expressed satisfaction with the sentence, despite the elusiveness of the hate-crime element. "When you're experiencing having someone beating your head in with a foot, you know what happened," said Rabideau. "I knew the truth. ... When you're kicked and they use degrading words. ... If they just wanted the money they would have been done at the Mac's [where the attack started]. But they kept going. ... Unfortunately, there was no witness or tape recorder to record that."

Lambert and Allard were given credit for the 14 months they spent behind bars while awaiting trial and will now serve another 22 months in order to complete their sentences. Had they been convicted of a hate crime, they would likely have faced six to eight years.

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