The Lindsay, Ont., man facing criminal charges for allegedly attacking a home intruder is accused of using a knife in the incident, court documents show.
A charge sheet filed by police on Thursday and reviewed by CBC News identifies the apartment tenant as Jeremy David McDonald, 44.
The documents say McDonald is charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after he “did endanger the life” of Michael Kyle Breen, 41.
Kawartha Lakes police previously declined to identify the two men involved in the incident and have not said whether the pair knew each other.
McDonald’s lawyer, Steven Norton, told CBC in an email his client “maintains his innocence and was acting within his rights to defend himself and his property.”
McDonald “was doing what anyone would do if they were in his situation of a home invasion,” Norton said.
Police said they were called to the home at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Monday for a report of an “altercation.” They said officers learned the resident had awoken to find an armed intruder in his apartment.
A fight ensued, police said, and the alleged intruder — now identified as Breen — was seriously injured and airlifted to a Toronto hospital.
Police said Breen was already wanted by investigators at the time of the incident. They said he faces multiple charges in connection with the Monday incident, including weapon possession, breaking and entering and theft.
A representative of the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes, said Thursday afternoon that no charge sheet had been filed under Breen’s name this week. Police have not said what weapon they allege he wielded during the break-in.
Questions about ‘reasonable’ force
The incident has attracted widespread attention across Ontario.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a social media post, “If someone breaks in, you deserve the right to defend your loved ones and your property — full stop.”
Premier Doug Ford suggested the charges laid against McDonald show “something is broken.”
“I know if someone breaks into my house or someone else’s, you’re going to fight for your life,” Ford told reporters on Wednesday. “This guy has a weapon … you’re going to use any force you can to protect your family.”
A man is facing assault charges after allegedly inflicting life-threatening injuries on an intruder at his home in Lindsay, Ont. The case has triggered questions about the limits of self-defence in Canadian law.
Legal experts, however, have pointed out there’s a limit to what’s considered reasonable force in a case of self-defence.
“What would be unreasonable,” former police officer Dan Jones told CBC News Network, “is as you’ve got them subdued on the ground, already under control, continuously hitting them, or hurting them, or stabbing them.”
“It’s unclear if these two individuals were known to each other, that could play into it as well,” said Jones, chair of the Justice Studies program at NorQuest College in Edmonton.
“There’s a lot that we don’t know.”
Kawartha Lakes police chief Kirk Robertson stressed on Wednesday that Canadian law allows “a person to use reasonable force to protect themselves and their property if they believe they are facing a threat. However, it is important to understand that these rights are not unlimited.”
Robertson said “investigators were able to examine all of the information and evidence that was available, prior to laying any charges.”
McDonald is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Sept. 25.
