Courtenay man’s jail sentence for firearms offences reduced

A Courtenay man, convicted in a case in which more than 30 restricted firearms went missing, has had his sentenced reduced by 10 months to 30 months in jail following an appeal.

In November, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird sentenced Bryce Cameron Scott McDonald to 40 months in prison after he had been found guilty of 12 criminal counts.

Most of the offences dealt with the gun collector’s failure to properly secure seven registered firearms, which were seized by police when they raided his home in December 2013.

One of the guns was loaded and found in his bedroom. For that offence he was sentenced to 40 months in jail, with the sentences on the other counts running concurrent to it.

He was not charged in relation to the missing firearms, but in sentencing McDonald, the judge called the uncharged conduct an aggravating factor that had to be taken into account.

McDonald, a Hells Angels associate, argued on appeal that the judge had erred in relying on the issue of the missing firearms as a factor on sentencing.

A three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed with the defence and found the 40-month sentence was clearly unreasonable and excessive and represented a “substantial and marked departure” from the appropriate range of sentences.

In his reasons for judgment, Justice David Harris said it needed to be remembered that McDonald could not be punished for trafficking in firearms or for failing to report the missing guns, which had resulted in some of them finding their way into criminal hands.

He said the offender could only be punished for improperly storing the seven guns seized by police.

“His attitude and conduct were relevant to his moral culpability for those offences, but only for those offences,” said Harris.

“Viewed in this way, and allowing for the proper use of the missing gun evidence on sentencing, it appears to me that the sentence of 40 months for the loaded gun is demonstrably unfit because, despite the judge’s stated intentions, Mr. McDonald was effectively punished for uncharged offences.”

Harris added he was aware of, and respected, the Appeal Court’s obligation to show deference to the decision of the sentencing judge.

“Indeed, I consider that everything the judge had to say about Mr. McDonald’s contemptuous attitude toward and flagrant disregard of the scheme regulation, his dishonesty, and the fact that these offences were committed by an utterly irresponsible gun owner were all amply supported by the record.

“Clearly, a severe sentence is warranted in all the circumstances.”

Justice Peter Willcock and Justice Gail Dickson agreed with Harris’s ruling.