A young man wasn’t his usual self when he threatened to stab his mother with a shard of glass, a local judge said.
Damon Sheldon Hansen pled guilty Monday in St. Albert Provincial Court to one count of mischief causing property damage, uttering threats of bodily harm, possession of stolen property and failure to comply with a judicial order.
Hansen approached his mother’s house while drunk at about 8:18 a.m. on Aug. 27, said Crown prosecutor Keith Joyce. Finding the door locked, Hansen rang the doorbell and pounded the door until the frame split.
Hansen’s mother, who lives with him, told Hansen to come back when he was sober. Instead, Hansen tried to break the back door down with a shovel, smashed a window, grabbed a shard of glass and said, “I’m going to stab you, bitch.” He took some pills from a bedroom before leaving the scene. Hansen was later arrested when he returned to the house in violation of a court order.
Hansen is a 21-year-old receptionist with no criminal record who was suffering from depression at the time, said duty counsel Brad Leebody. “This appears to be not typical behaviour for him.” He had also been drinking heavily while on medication before the incident.
Hansen, appearing by closed circuit TV (CCTV) from Fort Saskatchewan, expressed deep remorse for his actions. “This isn’t me. I’m not like that.”
Judge Bruce Garriock agreed and accepted the guilty plea, sentencing Hansen to one year’s probation and waiving the victim’s fine surcharge.
An Edmonton man remains in jail this week after he was denied bail for alleged drunk driving.
Bernard H. Bearhead of Edmonton appeared by CCTV in St. Albert court Monday on charges of dangerous driving, impaired driving and refusal to provide a breath sample.
According to Joyce, Bearhead was arrested on Aug. 22 after a witness allegedly spotted a car headed south down Highway 2 towards St. Albert, one that was tailgating others and moving at about 160 km/h.
When an officer stopped the car in St. Albert, he found the driver had glassy, bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. The driver refused to give a breath sample on the officer’s screening device, which led to the driver’s arrest.
Joyce, arguing against Bearhead’s release, noted that the man had many prior convictions on his record, including failures to comply with court orders and breaches of probation.
Garriock denied Bearhead bail based on this “abysmal” record. The fact that he allegedly committed these acts while on probation indicates “a complete lack of respect for complying with court orders,” he added.
Bearhead next appears in court Sept. 27.
