Man who left woman in coma in dangerous offender hearing

A man who sexually assaulted an Ottawa woman in Banff, Alta., leaving herin a coma, is at the centre of a hearing that began Tuesday to determine if he is a dangerous offender.

Albert Muckle, a 25-year-olddrifter from Ontario, pleaded guilty in September 2005 to aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder in the attack a few months earlier.

Police said the woman, who worked in a Banff hotel, was strangled and left unconscious and partially clothed in a park near the Bow River on July 11.

She remains in a coma in a long-term-care facility in Ottawa and is not expected to recover.

If the court rules Muckle is a dangerous offender, he could be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

According to a report in the Winnipeg Free Press, Mucklewas born in prison, grew upin the rough Wabaseemong (White Dog) First Nation reserve in Kenora, Ont., and has had a history of violent crime.

In 1999, he began a four-year prison sentence for stabbing a cabbie twice while in a drunken rage.

Mucklelater took part in a prison gang war and was transferred in 2002 to another detention centre because of it. He was caught hiding an exacto knife and a shank in his cell.

Muckle has rejected legal counsel in the past, buta lawyerhas been appointed for him for the dangerous offender process.

The process of declaring someone a dangerous offendermust beinitiated by a Crown prosecutor.Only those who have been convicted of a serious personal injury offence qualify for the designation.