Man damages car with pickaxe

A Lakeside man who punched holes in a car’s hood with a pickaxe after he says he was robbed and beaten was recently given a suspended sentence.

David Craig MacDougall, 42, appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to mischief.

Crown attorney Lisa Goulden told the court Charlottetown police arrested MacDougall after responding to a call about two men fighting on Euston Street where one of them was swinging a pickaxe.

When the police arrived, they found a car up against a telephone pole with windows smashed and what the Crown described as four very large holes in the vehicle’s hood.

Goulden told the court MacDougall admitted hitting the car with the pickaxe and he said it was in self defence or payback for getting ripped off.

The court heard MacDougall caused $26,482 in damage to the vehicle, which was a writeoff.

Goulden said $1,000 of that amount was a deductible the vehicle’s owners had to pay.

She also said the owners’ son had taken the car without permission and has since been charged with theft of a vehicle.

A pre-sentence report was prepared for the case, which Goulden said noted MacDougall had mental health issues.

The report also mentioned that during the summer, MacDougall was reportedly drinking a quart of moonshine daily.

Defence lawyer Alex Dalton told the court it appeared MacDougall was under the influence of intoxicants at the time of the incident and there was a dispute after he tried to buy drugs.

Dalton said MacDougall didn’t bring the pickaxe with him, and he picked it up after someone assaulted him earlier in the night.

Before hearing his sentence, MacDougall addressed the court to say he realized he shouldn’t have damaged the vehicle as soon as he did it.

“I apologize for that evening,” he said.

With the suspended sentence, MacDougall will be on probation for 15 months and he must pay $1,000 in restitution for the insurance deductible.