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Sentence doubled

Alberta’s highest court has nearly doubled the sentence of a man who was convicted of brutally torturing his wife.

CALGARY — Alberta’s highest court has nearly doubled the sentence of a man who was convicted of brutally torturing his wife.

The Lethbridge man — who can’t be named to protect the identity of the victim — was originally sent to prison for five years, but the Appeal Court increased that to nine years.

Court heard during his trial that over a seven-hour period in their home, the man handcuffed his wife of 20 years, punched her in the face, whipped and choked her with a belt, urinated on her, tied her to a bed and sexually assaulted her. He also tried to pull some of the woman’s teeth out with a pair of pliers and, when he couldn’t, forced her to pull one out herself.

The Crown successfully argued during the appeal that the judge didn’t take into account the grievous breach of trust involved in the assault. The Appeals Court upheld the five-year sentence for sexual assault, then added two years for strangling, and one year each for assault and assault with a weapon.

The man was also convicted of uttering threats and assault causing bodily harm, but he will serve those sentences concurrently.

He was given a two-year credit for pre-sentence custody.