Violent act at hospital blamed on ‘bad batch’ of fentanyl

A 35-year-old man from The Pas was sentenced to 90 days in jail after he admitted to smashing a garage window in the ambulance bay of the Brandon hospital while intoxicated last week.

James Constant pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Thursday to mischief under $5,000 and breaching a probation order that prohibited him from possessing any weapons. Two additional charges, involving failing to comply with a probation order and possessing a dangerous weapon, were stayed.

On July 15, Constant was taken to the Brandon Regional Health Centre by ambulance after he overdosed and became “aggressive” and “unco-operative” with paramedics, according to an agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup.

“He took a piece of wood and smashed the garage-door window within the ambulance bay,” Lonstrup said.

“Police arrived, and they found that he had two probation orders that he was not to own, possess, or carry a weapon or convert anything into a weapon, which is what he did.”

In a news release last week, Brandon police said they responded to a report of a “violent man” at the hospital around 3:45 p.m. Police said security intervened as the man appeared to be reaching into his pocket.

Officers said a pocketknife was later found in the man’s possession. Court heard Constant used a piece of wood to commit the offence and not a pocketknife.

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn said his client had overdosed on a “bad batch” of fentanyl.

“He was resuscitated and he was basically unaware of where he was,” Synyshyn said.

“He’s confused, disoriented, possibly from the influences. Obviously, the concern is you mix those substances with his volatile and historically violent behaviour, and that’s where the concern arises.”

Constant was arrested at the time of the incident and later denied bail.

Lonstrup said deterrence must be a factor in sentencing Constant, especially because his criminal record includes nine convictions involving violence and 17 convictions for breaching probation orders.

“This is becoming one of the many horror stories that first responders, especially in what’s supposed to be a safe setting, have to regularly deal with,” Lonstrup said.

He suggested Constant face a sentence of 90 days minus time already served in custody for the mischief charge, a 30-day concurrent sentence for violating his probation, and a 12-month unsupervised probation order, prohibiting him from possessing any weapons.

The defence suggested a 60-day sentence that would give Constant time to sober up and become more stable.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said she understood that Constant was not in his “right mind” when he committed the offence.

“Thankfully, you didn’t hurt anybody when you turned that piece of wood into a weapon,” she said.

“But you created a dangerous situation at a place where, you know, it needs to be safe, where people are there because they’re vulnerable and they need help.”

Hewitt-Michta reminded Constant of an amendment to the Criminal Code in 2021 that requires courts to consider more serious penalties for offenders who target health-care workers engaged in their duties or who impede others from obtaining health services as an aggravating factor.

“I don’t think the circumstances here rise quite to the level of me relying on that statutory aggravating factor, and so I’m not doing that. But I point it out because we’re not far off of that here,” she told Constant.

The judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail, minus 12 days already spent in custody for his mischief charge, and a 30-day sentence to be served concurrently for breaching probation. He was also given an 18-month unsupervised probation order not to possess any weapons.

“My biggest hope is that we can do something that might help you to start dealing with what seems to be a serious addiction issue,” Hewitt-Michta said.

As the judge delivered the sentence, Constant, who appeared by video, was seen shaking his head. The judge said she was concerned by his reaction and interpreted it as him not taking his offence seriously.

Constant clarified with the judge that he was shaking his head because he was disappointed in his own actions.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com