CALGARY -- The former captain of Mount Royal University's men's hockey team has been found not guilty in connection with a drug-fueled attack on a professor in her southwest home in 2018.
A naked Matthew Brown broke into Janet Hamnett’s home in the early morning hours of Jan. 13, 2018, after consuming magic mushrooms and alcohol. He assaulted her with a broom handle.
Officers found Brown in the bathroom of another home, the court heard, after throwing a statue through the front of the house.
On Tuesday, Brown cried in a Calgary courtroom as he was acquitted of break and enter and assault. Brown's lawyer argued his client was intoxicated to the point of automatism.
In her ruling, Justice Michele Hollins said the now 29-year-old was in a state of "delirium" after consuming the hallucinogenic mushrooms and wasn’t in control of his actions.
Hollins accepted Brown’s claim that he didn’t have any memory of the incident.
"I appreciate my friends and family being here through everything. (It's been a) long couple of years," Brown told CTV News following the proceedings.
Hamnett suffered severe injuries to her arms and hand during the attack.
Her daughter and son-in-law spoke on her behalf following the proceedings, calling the ruling "disappointing."
"We didn’t want him to be severely punished but we did want accountability and we wanted a lesson shared with society that it's not okay to get out of control and to hurt people," said Lara Unsworth.
Brown issued an apology in court during the trial, which Unsworth and her husband believe to be "genuine."
"I feel like that came straight from my heart so I think they all know how I feel about it," Brown told CTV News.
Hamnett has returned to teaching at MRU but her life will "never be the same," because of the physical injuries she sustained and "lingering PTSD," Unsworth said.
“This has affected her forever.”
