Fredericton safety officers menaced with axe
Richard Andrew Hunter, 47, says he was hearing voices when he threatened Tim Hortons staff, city workers along trail on Fredericton’s north side earlier this year
A Napadogan man who’s been on remand for months for weapons-related incidents was sentenced to time already served Friday, and he was urged to take his medications as directed.
Richard Andrew Hunter, 47, of Third Street in Napadogan, about 70 kilometres north of Fredericton, appeared in Fredericton provincial jail by video from jail Friday for his sentencing hearing on various charges.
He’d pleaded guilty to several offences Oct. 20.
Crown prosecutor Gwynne Hearn said Fredericton police officers were dispatched to the Tim Hortons on Union Street the morning of Feb. 14 after receiving a report of a disturbance.
“Mr. Hunter was swinging a mallet inside the store,” she said.
“He threatened the staff with the mallet, stating he would kill them with one swing.”
Defence lawyer David Lutz said while his client acknowledges he threatened the workers, he wanted to clarify what it was he had in his hand.
“It wasn’t a mallet. It was a judge’s gavel,” he said.
Officers found him outside the Tim Hortons location and detained him, court heard.
Hunter then came to the attention of police again June 30, Hearn said, when they got a report of a man uttering threats at a northside residence.
They discovered Hunter was in the backyard of a Mill Street residence, threatening to enter the house and to kill Frank Barrett, she said.
As a result, Hunter was charged with uttering threats and breaching a police undertaking requiring him to follow a curfew.
Hunter told court Friday he didn’t know the victim was inside the home at the time, but admitted he uttered a general threat.
Finally, the prosecutor said, Hunter got in trouble again when two officers with the City of Fredericton’s community safety unit encountered him by the city trail near Cliffe Street the morning of July 23.
Hunter was homeless at the time, court heard, and the officers were trying to move him along from a northside homeless encampment.
“He’s known to be carrying various weapons,” Hearn said, and when the officers approached the offender, he grabbed an axe from the ground and charged at them.
Court heard Hunter hit the hood of the officers’ vehicle with the axe. He was charged with assaulting the officers with the axe, threatening to kill and/or harm them and possessing the axe for a purpose dangerous to the public peace.
Hunter told Judge Natalie LeBlanc part of his problems stem from his mental illness.
“I hear voices and stuff too, your honour,” he said. “I was off my medication.”
Hunter underwent two psychiatric assessments since he was remanded in July, and they determined he was fit to stand trial and not exempt from criminal responsibility due to a mental disorder at the time of the offences.
Hearn asked the court to impose a jail term equivalent to the time Hunter had already served on remand, once the enhanced credit that time is applied.
She also recommended a one-year term of probation.
Lutz agreed with the Crown’s recommendation on sentence.
He said Hunter’s circumstances sometimes mean he can’t get his medication, loses his pills or doesn’t take them, but he realizes he needs to ensure he does get them and takes them as directed.
“So Mr. Hunter, if you don’t get your medication, where are you going to go?” the defence lawyer asked his client.
“Right where I’m sitting right now,” Hunter answered. “I’m on my proper medication [now], as you can tell.”
He apologized his actions and again blamed them on his mental illness.
“I wasn’t thinking in my clear mind,” he said.
LeBlanc accepted the sentencing recommendation, noting it was reasonable given the facts of the case.
She said Hunter gave many people real cause for concern, noting the offences were serious.
“There was also an escalation of the violence,” the judge said.
But Hunter accepted responsibility for his crimes and clearly has insight into his issues, LeBlanc said.
In addition to a jail term equal to time served, the judge imposed a one-year term of probation.
During that time, Hunter is to stay off the premises of Tim Hortons on Union Street, have no contact with the victims of his various offences and participate in counselling and/or treatment as directed by his probation officer.
The judge also ordered him to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, and she ordered the axe to be forfeited to the Crown.
Hunter asked if he’d be able to get his gavel back, noting it held sentimental value as it was old and had belonged to a family friend.
Hearn said the offender wasn’t convicted of a weapon offence related to the gavel, so the Crown wasn’t seeking a forfeiture order for that item, meaning it will be returned to him.
However, LeBlanc warned him he shouldn’t use it as a weapon in the future.
She also told Hunter that should he find himself facing challenges in accessing his medications or other treatment, he should contact his probation officer, who would be in a position to help him.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
they'll leave this guy on the loose until he kills someone. he should be committed.