A 20-year-old man who was found guilty of attacking his ex-girlfriend has been granted a discharge after his lawyer argued a criminal record would “hamper his plans” for the future.

Judge Lori Marshall granted Lancelot Saunders an absolute discharge after Saunders’s lawyer said the man had plans to attend Memorial University. Although Saunders was found guilty, the ruling won’t result in a criminal record or any conditions.

Saunders faced criminal charges in connection with physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Aden Savoie. A statement of facts revealed that Saunders pulled Savoie’s hair and hit her with a coat hanger, leaving the teen bruised, NTV reports.

Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Andrew Parsons says he’s aware of the public uproar over the decision, but is not able to directly intervene.

“People need to understand the independence of our judiciary, of our judges, and me trying to place any political influence on them as it relates to any type of decision is just certainly improper,” Parsons told NTV. 

“It’s not the first time that we’ve seen a decision that certainly struck a chord with the public or upset the public . . . I’m not ignorant to what people are saying out there, but I had to be careful in my role as an attorney general.”

On social media, Saunders has received a backlash over his response to the decision.

“What opportunities do I have now that her story was told but not mine?” he wrote in a comment on his Instagram profile. 

Savoie says she feels let down by the court.

“I still can’t believe this is how our justice system works or how this even happened,” Savoie said in a Facebook post. “It’s 2017 this shouldn’t still be happening.”

Parsons said that as a father, he finds the incident between Savoie and Saunders “completely unacceptable.”

After talking to the director of public prosecutions, Parsons added that the situation is currently being appealed. 

With a report from NTV