StFX basketball player convicted of assault
February 25, 2010 9:00 AM
On Friday, February 19, a Nova Scotia provincial court judge found StFX basketball player William Donkoh guilty of assault causing bodily harm.
Assault charges were laid against Donkoh and two former X-men, Tyler Richards and Eamon Morrissy, on March 2, 2009 after an altercation took place outside of Pat’s Place in Antigonish last February.
The incident sent a StFX student to hospital with a facial injury that required between 15 and 18 stitches.
At the time, all three were players on the StFX basketball team, and were suspended from playing in the AUS Final 6 Championship in Halifax and championship games in Ottawa.
Morissy pleaded guilty to the assault charge this past January, and was sentenced to six months house arrest and one year probation.
Richards, a four-time AUS all-star, was convicted of assault alongside Donkoh, but was found not guilty of a second charge of threatening to use a knife during the assault.
Sentencing for both Donkoh and Richards will take place April 21.
Two days after the provincial court judge announced his verdict, Donkoh suited up for a home game against Memorial University.
StFX Athletics Director Leo MacPherson confirms that the athletics department is not considering any additional penalties for Donkoh and he will remain on the team.
“From my perspective, this incident took place in the last academic year,” he says. “All students involved in this incident were taken to the university’s disciplinary committee. We don’t anticipate taking any further action.”
Information regarding the charges, if any, filed against Donkoh through the Community Code or any subsequent sanctions are not public information.
The director of operations and development for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Tom Huisman told the Xaverian Weekly that students who have criminal charges or convictions are not barred from playing in the league.
“There’s nothing in our eligibility regulations that would prohibit someone from participating with that case history,” he comments.
CIS CEO Marg McGregor confirms that the university in question, not the CIS, is responsible for determining ineligibility on the basis of a player’s criminal conviction.
