The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed the appeal of a British Columbia man who tried to circumcise his four-year-old son on his kitchen floor with a carpet-cutting blade. The boy needed corrective surgery to repair the severe damage arising from the attack. In a 7-0 ruling, the justices left intact a Court of Appeal ruling that convicted the man of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

The man was convicted at trial in October 2009 of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and acquitted on the two assault charges. The appeal court restored convictions on the assault counts and stayed the negligence charge, conditional on the conviction for aggravated assault. The man's appeal to the Supreme Court sought to have the assault charges thrown out again, but the justices dismissed the case. The original trial was told the man felt that his religious beliefs required that his son be circumcised. Doctors advised him to wait until the child was older and stronger before performing the procedure. The Crown dismissed the religious reasoning. “This is a case about child abuse,” the Crown argued. "This is not a case about the applicant’s religious freedom or circumcision generally."

Source: Father who circumcised his son on the kitchen floor loses high court appeal, Montreal Gazette, 16 November 2012