Friday, December 9, 2011

Vakhtang Makhniashvili sentenced to 6 years for stabbings

Calvin Barry, Vakhtang Makhniashvili's lawyer, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.


ctvtoronto.ca


Date: Thursday Dec. 8, 2011 11:34 AM ET

Vakhtang Makhniashvili, whose daughter Mariam disappeared in 2009, will serve four years and 11 months in jail for three 2010 stabbings, a Toronto judge ruled Thursday.

Makhniashvili, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault last summer. While Justice Rebecca Rutherford sentenced him to six years in jail, that sentence was reduced due to time already served.

In May 2010, Makhniashvili stabbed a 26-year-old former neighbour after accusing him of being responsible for his daughter's disappearance.

In November 2010, he stabbed both David and Delores Langer, a couple who had come forward to help him post bail for the attack on the neighbour.

Makhniashvili later admitted to confronting the couple outside their Greenwood Avenue home and blaming them for a negative newspaper article about his family.

At a sentencing hearing in October, all three victims described extensive physical and emotional injuries resulting from the attacks. A psychiatric assessment presented to the court that day indicated Makhniashvili suffers from a delusional disorder.

"I would like to apologize to my victims. I didn't realize how much pain and trouble I've caused to society and my family," he told the court.

Mariam Makhniashvili vanished from her Toronto high school without a trace in September 2009. She was 17 at the time. Despite a national search, police have been unable to find her.

In November 2010, Mariam's brother Giorgi briefly ran away from home over a dispute with his father about playing the guitar. The teen's father had pushed him to focus on mathematics over music. Giorgi, who is now 18, turned up at a Vaughan police station about ten hours after his parents reported him missing.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111208/vakhtang-makhniashvili-assault-sentencing-111208/20111208?hub=TorontoNewHome

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