CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Knowing her worth became thoughts of worthlessness. Her strong self-esteem and confidence became nonexistent and she lost who she was and was losing her will to live.
Those are the words of a woman who suffered not only physically, but emotionally when she was assaulted last December by her now ex-partner.
But in the victim impact statement she read at Norman Buuck’s sentencing hearing in provincial court in Corner Brook recently, the woman said she has found her purpose.
Buuck, 41, was sentenced to 12 months in jail for assault and assault with a weapon by Judge Wayne Gorman on Wednesday.
“My purpose is my voice,” the woman said in her statement, which was included in Gorman’s written decision. “It speaks loud and clear to stand up and speak out for others who have been a victim of domestic violence.
“Some are too weak and exhausted emotionally and mentally to speak up for themselves. This is where I come in. I'm resilient and a warrior. And by being there volunteering my time in my words of strength and empowerment, I hope they will have an ear for my words in saying I've been there, I know your pain and fear.”
Still, she said she fears Buuck will do the same thing to someone else or harm her again, and she is still working on getting back to knowing her worth.
The woman and Buuck had been in a relationship for 10 months, and that included some time spent living in another province.
On Dec. 3, 2019 they had an argument, and she left their home. When she returned, he began calling her names and took a glass she was using and threw it in the sink, smashing it.
The woman became frightened and asked him to leave, but instead he went to the basement and got a sledgehammer.
When he came upstairs, he struck a wall, making a large hole, and threw her boots and jacket outside.
He pushed the woman against a wall in the kitchen while still holding the sledgehammer. She fell to the floor, got up, wrestled with him a bit and fell to the floor again.
He grabbed the top of the hoody she was wearing and pulled her from the kitchen to the living room.
Buuck told her that she “had to pay the price” because she “never listened to him.” He pinned her to the floor, but she was able to free her arms. He attempted to hit her in the face and raised the sledgehammer as if to hit her.
He kicked her, spat in her face and tripped her. When she asked for her car keys so she could leave, he wouldn’t give them to her. He broke her eyeglasses, and she spent the night in another room, too scared to sleep.
He was arrested the next day after he drove the woman to her daughter’s house.
Buuck has a criminal record that contains 18 prior convictions from 1998 to 2013. It includes two convictions for assault, one involving another former intimate partner.
In addition to the jail sentence, he was ordered to serve two-years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay $776.04 as restitution for the financial loss suffered by the woman.
Prior to being sentenced, he apologized to the woman and said he was not a threat to her family.
Diane Crocker reports on west coast news.
