“Man who beat wife said he didn’t know it was against law,” read a recent headline in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal.

The man – Mohamad Rafia, a Syrian refugee – didn’t just beat his wife, he beat her with a hockey stick. For half an hour.

Rafia told a Fredericton court that he didn’t know it was a crime in Canada to beat your wife with a hockey stick for half an hour.

Following the attack, Rafia’s wife was taken to a local hospital and initially lied to protect her husband. She later revealed that he beat her with a hockey stick – for half an hour – pulled her hair, hit her in the face and threatened to kill her.

Rafia was charged and pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats. He was sentenced to eight days in jail and one year of probation.

This shocking and disturbing story failed to make national media, but the Telegraph Journal provides the startling details.

Rafia was a privately sponsored refugee who arrived in Canada more than 14 months ago with his wife and children. He spoke to the court in Arabic and his testimony was translated through an interpreter.

“He was not aware of the law and he was coming from a background where the laws are completely different,” said the interpreter.

Man who beat wife said he didn't know it was against the law https://t.co/z8DDUaEhGlpic.twitter.com/K00jxasoVw — The Daily Gleaner (@DailyGleaner) June 9, 2017

“Officials didn’t inform him of the differences in the law in Canada and that more should have been done to educate him,” said the interpreter. “Why didn’t they explain the law?”

The battered wife defended her abusive husband, according to a Fredericton police statement. “Being assaulted by her spouse is culturally accepted (in) the country they are from.”

Not only did these Syrian refugees claim to not know it was a crime for a man to hit his wife with a hockey stick, they also defended the abuse and tried to direct blame onto Canadian officials.

Worse is the fact that this wife-beater got away with his crime, and was given a mere slap on the wrist by the Canadian court.

In similar cases, a foreign criminal like Rafia would face deportation. In this instance, however, because he’s a Syrian refugee and because Canada doesn’t deport people to unsafe countries, we’re stuck with this foreign criminal.

That’s why it’s so important that Canada properly screen and vet refugees before they get to Canada. Kellie Leitch’s Canadian values test would have gone a long way.

Also outrageous is the fact that after having lived in Canada for almost a year and a half, it appears that Mohamed Rafia still doesn’t speak enough English to be able to say: “I didn’t know this was a crime.”

For 15 months, Canadian taxpayers have paid for Rafia to receive free English classes, on top of gold-plated healthcare and welfare benefits, so he can try to fit into Canadian society.

Instead, he’s brought the worst of his culture to Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s fast-tracked Syrian refugee pledge was designed primarily to virtue-signal and gain positive press for the rookie leader. While the mainstream media swooned over Trudeau’s selfies, both refugees and Canadians were let down by Trudeau’s ill-conceived and poorly implemented program.

Now we learn that one of these Syrian refugees used the iconic symbol of Canadian patriotism – the hockey stick – as a weapon to bring a barbaric attitude towards women to Canada.

A battered wife and a bloodied hockey stick. That’s the legacy of Trudeau’s Syrian refugee program.