No bail for man accused of carrying sawed-off shotgun
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/06/2022 (1610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A man allegedly found with a loaded, sawed-off shotgun in his backpack was denied bail Monday morning after a judge said there is no lawful reason for the man to own one.
Nick Hunter is accused in the May 2021 incident. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and the charges have not been tested in court.
On May 18, 2021, Brandon police officers reportedly saw a man banging on a door on the 400 block of 10th Street at approximately 6:20 a.m., Crown attorney Andrew Sieklicki told the court.
When police approached him to ask about the commotion, the man reportedly took off running and didn’t stop when they told him to, Sieklicki said. The officers chased him and allegedly saw him throw a backpack into a backyard while running.
He kept running before he was arrested in the backyard of a residence on the 400 block of Eighth Street. Sieklicki said police then identified the man as Hunter.
Officers searched him and allegedly found a single 12-gauge shotgun shell in his back pants pocket, he said.
Police then searched the backpack thrown into a yard and allegedly found a loaded, sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. Sieklicki said the serial number of the gun was ground off, making it unreadable.
At the time, Hunter was allegedly under court orders banning him from owning guns or weapons, according to the Crown.
Hunter is also accused of breaching court orders in other incidents.
Sieklicki opposed Hunter being released on bail, saying he wasn’t confident he would follow court-ordered release conditions.
Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn said Hunter was previously doing well in a residential treatment program and is working on himself while in custody. He said Hunter is dedicated to rehabilitation.
If released, Synyshyn said Hunter would like to find another residential treatment program to live in.
He suggested a bail plan that would have had Hunter living with a family member, following a curfew and a ban on possessing weapons.
Judge Donovan Dvorak said there’s no legal reason why somebody needs to own a sawed-off shotgun.
“It’s not a hunting gun any longer. It’s a weapon that’s used for intimidation. When it’s loaded, it goes beyond the issue of intimidation because the person who’s the intended target of intimidation doesn’t know whether the shotgun is loaded,” he said.
“When somebody owns a sawed-off shotgun, [there are] not many purposes for that other than to cause harm or to cause serious threat.”
Dvorak denied the accused’s release on bail, saying he has significant concerns if he released him back into the community.
Hunter is scheduled to appear in court in mid-July.
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_