A man who launched himself from a prisoner's box and attacked a Crown prosecutor inside a Peterborough courtroom has been sentenced to just 60 additional days in jail.

Matthew Dakin, 30, pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the February 17 attack and apologized in court, telling Justice Faith Finnestad, "I'm sorry. I've just been going through a lot."

The sentence was the result of a joint submission from the Crown and defence.

The attack occurred during a dangerous offender hearing. Dakin was shackled but not handcuffed as he sat in a prisoner's box that lacked a Plexiglas barrier. As Crown attorney Kelly Eberhard addressed the court with her back turned, Dakin became increasingly agitated before launching himself from the box and striking her in the shoulder area. Court officers quickly restrained him before the assault escalated further.

Justice Finnestad accepted the joint recommendation but cautioned that the sentence should not be viewed as a precedent.

"Anyone who is tempted to demonstrate their frustration by taking physical action against counsel on either side should not anticipate a sentence of only sixty days," she said. "The consequences would be much higher."

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The relatively short sentence reflected Dakin's existing punishment rather than the seriousness of the courtroom attack. He is already serving a lengthy federal prison sentence for an aggravated assault involving a stabbing and has been designated a dangerous offender. Upon his release, he will remain under a 10-year long-term supervision order. The additional 60-day sentence will be served consecutively to his current prison term.

The assault renewed concerns about courthouse security across Ontario. According to the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association, prosecutors had been warning for roughly a decade that the Peterborough courtroom's prisoner's box lacked adequate safety protections. A Plexiglas barrier was reportedly installed shortly after the attack.

Eberhard later wrote in a victim impact statement that the assault had shaken her sense of safety at work and left her repeatedly reliving the incident. The association argued the attack was preventable and highlighted a broader pattern of violence against Crown attorneys in Ontario courthouses.