Grand Mira South man given probation and fine

A 31-year-old man from Grand Mira South was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to charges of evading police and careless use of a firearm.

Hugh Travis Matthews of Campbelldale Road was ordered to complete a six-month period of probation and fined $600.

Among the conditions of his probation, Matthews is to refrain from alcohol and drugs not prescribed to him by a physician, he’s also not to possess any firearms and is to take all counselling as recommended by his probation officer. He is also banned from possessing weapons for the next two years. Other charges were previously dismissed.

According to the facts of the case presented in court, Matthews was charged after an incident last Aug. 30 when Cape Breton Regional Police were called to a Campbelldale Road address concerning a distraught male with possession of a rifle. The suspect was Matthews, who at the time was suffering from acute depression that was exacerbated by alcohol consumption.

Having argued with his girlfriend and a close friend, Matthews left the home and drove into the woods on an ATV with a rifle in his possession.

Police cordoned off an area on Campbelldale Road and the Gabarus Highway and located Matthews on a logging road near his home.

As Matthews approached police, he was ordered off his ATV and to lay face down on the ground.

Instead, Matthews veered off the road and into a ditch before heading back into the woods. Police observed him toss the rifle into the woods.

Matthews then drove himself back to his residence where he was arrested without incident.

The sentence was a joint recommendation from prosecutor Christa MacKinnon and defence lawyer Andre Landry.