Woman convicted of disfiguring biting attack given reduced sentence because she’s Haitian

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeNP Comment Woman convicted of disfiguring biting attack given reduced sentence because she's Haitian Tristin Hopper: In a decision released this week, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that four years was too harsh, in part because it could possibly get her deported Author of the article: By Tristin Hopper Published Sep 15, 2026 4 minute read Join the conversation A sign for the Quebec Court of Appeal. It’s an established Canadian legal precedent that judges are required to consider the “collateral immigration consequences” of a criminal sentence. PHOTO BY ADOBE STOCK Article content A Haitian woman who disfigured a stranger in a Montreal-area biting attack has been given a reduced sentence by a Quebec judge on the grounds that a harsher prison term would endanger her “precarious immigration status.” Article content Just two days after Christmas in 2022, Macdala Monfiston spent eight minutes viciously attacking a woman outside a bar in Laval, Que., leaving the victim with bite marks all over her arms and face. Article content RECOMMENDED VIDEOS Article content Article content Court records described one of the facial wounds as being “several centimetres long, necessitating repeated treatments and leaving a prominent scar.” Article content Channel Israel Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up to date with what’s happening in Israel and the effects of antisemitism on life here in Canada. Friday mornings. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Article content Video of the assault obtained by The Journal de Montreal shows Monfiston pulling the victim’s hair, kicking her motionless form on the ground and straddling her body while biting at her face. Article content “When I tell people I was bit, they ask me what kind of animal, if it was by a pit bull. They can’t believe it’s a person who did this to me,” the victim told the paper in a French-language interview. Article content Although good Samaritans attempted to intervene, they were held back by Monfiston’s boyfriend. Article content After Monfiston pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in early 2025, a Court of Quebec judge sentenced her to four years in prison – the sentence already a fraction of the maximum 14-year sentence set for the crime under the Criminal Code. Article…