No bail for man facing multiple charges

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This article was published 14/06/2023 (1024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The co-accused of a man who allegedly drove through Brandon streets with a loaded shotgun behind the driver’s seat in May was denied bail on Monday.

In addition to weapons-related charges from the May incident, Terrence Cavanagh is also facing seven sets of charges, including allegedly spray-painting hydro poles and benches on Richmond Avenue and allegedly assaulting security officers at The Town Centre last year.

Crown attorney Melania Cannon detailed the following allegations against Cavanagh in court. The allegations against him have not been proven in court and Cavanagh remains innocent until proven guilty.

On May 7, 2022, a man had just been released from police custody when numerous callers reported to the Brandon Police Service that a man was spray-painting things on Richmond Avenue.

The callers stated that the man was moving east along the street, continuing to spray-paint items. One of the callers was BPS Chief Wayne Balcaen, who provided police with a photo of the man he observed created graffiti.

Officers recognized the man, as he had been released from custody earlier that day. Working off of a caller’s tip that the man had been seen jumping over a fence on the 1400 block of Fifth Street into a back yard, police found the man in the back yard with a can of black spray paint.

In total, the man had spray painted 11 hydro poles, a bus bench and a wooden fence between Fifth and 18th streets along Richmond Avenue.

Then on July 7, 2022, police received a report that security guards at The Town Centre were detaining a man after he had allegedly assaulted multiple security officers.

Town Centre guards told police that around noon, a man they had known to be banned from the mall had assaulted two guards by pushing them and attempting to kick one of them in the face.

The man then ran away, but returned about 45 minutes later when he allegedly tried to grab the radio off one of the guards as they attempted to escort him off the property.

Finally, on May 20, police recognized a driver of a vehicle they knew to be on a Canada-wide driving prohibition. Police pulled the vehicle over on First Street, near Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. The man, who was in the passenger seat, and the driver complied with police and exited the vehicle.

Then, police apparently saw the butt of a shotgun sticking out of a bag behind the driver’s seat. When officers opened the bag, they find a loaded 12-gauge shotgun with the safety off.

Both the driver and the man in the passenger seat were charged with numerous weapons-related offences.

Prosecutors emphasized the seriousness of the accused allegedly being found in a vehicle with both a loaded gun and someone who was not supposed to be driving.

“I would submit that it’s aggravating that if happens so close to the high school, even if it is on a Saturday,” Cannon told the court. “It’s [also] brazen, in the sense that it’s the middle of the day.”

Cannon noted that although the defence would point to issues in linking Cavanagh to the firearm, she said that the Crown still has a solid case.

The Crown attorney also pointed to Cavanagh’s criminal record of assault, mischief as well as his history of failing to appear in court.

“He presents a danger, Your Honour, and we’re not satisfied that any plan that defence could give you would alleviate that,” Cannon said.

Cavanagh’s defence lawyer, Anthony Dawson, said that his 24-year-old client suffers from mental health issues and is in regular contact with a worker at Life’s Journey, a non-profit organization that works with people with mental health issues and diagnoses like FASD.

Dawson said his client is also on a wait list for detox to address his substance use issues.

The defence lawyer pointed to issues with the Crown’s case, including that Cavanagh was not in the driver’s seat and that there were discrepancies between Cavanagh’s and officers’ accounts of whether the gun could be seen in the vehicle.

Dawson proposed a bail plan that would have his client staying at the safe and warm shelter with a $150 cash bail and be subject to a curfew.

Associate Chief Judge Donovan Dvorak raised concerns with the recent allegations against Cavanagh.

“The reality is, what purpose does somebody have for a shotgun, loaded [and the] safety off, driving through a residential area in Brandon?” the judge said. “The safety risk to that is enormous.”

Dvorak also pointed to Cavanagh’s history of numerous convictions for assault, and out of concern for public safety, denied the 24-year-old bail.

Cavanagh’s matter will next appear in court on June 30. His co-accused, Matiao Campbell, will next appear in court on June 19.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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