Convicted sex offender Denzel Bird to be sentenced Friday

The man who admitted to randomly attacking a Lethbridge woman while she walked to work in the fall of 2016 will learn on Friday how much time he must serve behind bars.

Denzel Dre Colton Bird pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault last September.

READ MORE: Guilty plea entered in vicious attack of Lethbridge woman

Court heard that Bird hit the then 25-year-old victim with a metal pipe, dragged her into an alley and sexually assaulted her.

She was left with multiple skull and facial fractures and still struggles with her balance.

At a sentencing hearing in April, the woman – who can’t be named under a court-ordered publication ban – told the court that she sometimes wishes he had finished her off.

READ MORE: Alberta woman says vicious sexual assault changed her life: ‘I am a survivor’

The Crown is seeking a 20-year prison sentence, while the defence is countering with no more than eight years in custody.

The maximum sentence for aggravated sexual assault is life in prison.