Parole denied for man who raped and viciously beat woman in Banff in 2005

File image of Al Muckle following his arrest in connection with a 2005 sexual assault and vicious beating in Banff.

The man found guilty of sexually assaulting and brutally beating a woman along the Bow River banks in Banff in 2005 has been denied parole.

Albert Muckle, a 42-year-old dangerous offender, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder back in 2006 and handed an indeterminate federal sentence in connection with the vicious attack that left his victim in a vegetative state.

The woman had been outside of a Banff nightclub with a male friend in July 2005 when Muckle approached her.  The friend stepped away to use an ATM and when he returned both Muckle and the woman were gone.

She was found blooded, bruised and unconscious near the river later that day, having been strangled, punched in the face, sexually assaulted and robbed of cash.

An RCMP unit and crime scene tape near the Bow River in Banff following a July 2005 sexual assault and beating that left a woman in a vegetative state. (file)

Muckle had the woman's underwear with him when police located him the following day and the subsequent forensic investigation located his DNA on the victim.

He claimed that he hadn't slept in the days before the attack and had been using crystal methamphetamine on a daily basis during that time. He also said he had drank a significant amount of alcohol prior to the assault.

In its Oct. 14 denial of Muckle's day and full parole requests, the Parole Board of Canada said a psychological risk assessment conducted in June determined that he continues to pose a "very high risk of violent re-offending and an above average risk of sexually re-offending."

Muckle, who is enrolled in the High Intensity Sex Offender Program but has been deemed an untreated sex offender, has also been involved in more than 70 security-related incidents while incarcerated including threats to inmates and a parole officer, and possession of illegal items that had been smuggled in his smudge bundle.

While Muckle's parole requests were denied, the Case Management Team is working to transfer him from a maximum to medium security institution.