HOUSE ARREST

Poor taste in men has put a major dent in an Osoyoos woman’s freedom.

Racheal Harder, 33, was handed an eight-month conditional sentence of house arrest after pleading guilty Thursday in provincial court in Penticton to one count of possessing a restricted firearm with no licence.

Court heard she was at her home near Oliver in September 2015 when police raided the residence and found a loaded, 22-calibre pistol in a safe in her bedroom.

Defence counsel Bob Maxwell said his client was living commonlaw with a well-known drug dealer and fence at the time, who gave Harder the gun for protection.

“There were all kinds of drug deals taking place and all kinds of sketchy characters showing up. She never went and purchased this gun. It was there in the house and she could use it for self-defence if necessary,” said Maxwell.

Police were called to the home, he added, due to a complaint of an assault in a trailer that was also on the property, which drew the heavy police response and led to the eventual raid.

Maxwell told the court his client is a trained drug and alcohol counsellor, but fell in with the wrong crowd and has been using illicit substances for the better part of 15 years.

He emphasized, however, that Harder had no prior criminal record and still has the support of her mother and grandmother, who were in the courtroom, and therefore suggested the conditional sentence.

“I never intended on using the gun. I don’t even like them,” Harder said when given a chance to address the court.

Although the Crown was seeking up to six months in jail, Judge Gale Sinclair agreed Harder’s lack of a prior criminal record made a conditional sentence the best option for her.

He ordered she serve the first four months under 24-hour house arrest, and spend the back half on a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Soon after her arrest, Harder fled to Alberta with her former common-law spouse, Brooks Vandenbroek. The pair was arrested in Medicine Hat in November 2015 for a rash of property crimes in that city.