Man sentenced in assault conviction
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: July 9, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A New Hampshire man was sentenced Wednesday to two to 10 years in prison for assaulting a Chester woman.
Britt W. McLain, 45, of Charlestown, N.H., pleaded guilty in White River Junction District Court to a felony charge of first-degree aggravated domestic assault and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. He received a sentence of 26 months to 10 years, with credit for time served.
According to an affidavit filed with the court, on Jan. 23, 2008, a Chester woman complained to police that McLain had assaulted her the night before because he saw her leave her job with her employer and believed the two were having an affair.
When they arrived at the woman's home in the early evening, McLain began to assault her. The woman told police that McLain struck her in the face several times with his hands and struck her in the head with a saw, court records stated. Later, police said, McLain smashed the woman's property in her house with a hatchet.
"McLain kept making (the woman) choose what he was going to smash next with the hatchet, or he was going to smash (her) with the hatchet," according to the police affidavit. "In speaking with (the woman), she advised that she was in fear for her life at that point, because she was sure that McLain would attack her with the hatchet."
McLain also struck the woman in the shoulder with a small log he had picked up from the woodpile, police said. The violence continued for more than seven hours until he finally fell asleep.
While he was charged Jan. 31, 2008, police could not find him until his arrest May 29, 2008, at a campground in Newfane. McLain was facing additional charges for felony first-degree aggravated domestic assault and two misdemeanor charges of domestic assault, but they were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, McLain must undergo mental health and domestic violence counseling and not have any contact with his victim except at her request and as allowed by McLain's probation officer.
McLain had a lengthy criminal history prior to Wednesday's plea agreement, including 12 convictions in Vermont and additional convictions in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire. He is being held in Springfield Prison.
For more information about domestic violence, contact the Rutland County Women's Network and Shelter at 775-6788; via crisis line at 775-3232 or (800) 228-7395, or online at www.rcwn.org/
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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