Man sentenced for making death threats

A 21-year-old man who threatened to kill several people on separate occasions earlier this year has been handed a jail sentence.

However, Zakaria Mohammed Farah was given credit for time already spent in custody, which means the 60-day sentence he received in court Thursday has been served.

Farah, who appeared in Lethbridge court by closed-circuit TV from the Calgary Remand Centre, pleaded guilty to two counts of uttering threats to cause death, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of failing to comply with a court order prohibiting him from possessing a weapon.

Crown prosecutor Vaughan Hartigan said Farah, 21, approached two people near a bar in the early morning hours of June 18 in Lethbridge and said he was going to shoot someone.

“Someone is going to die,” Hartigan quoted the man.

Police were called but a weapon was never found.

The following month Farah was armed with a machete when he approached a man and woman near a southside residence and threatened to murder them.

Although Farah previously had a psychiatric assessment and was deemed fit to stand trial, Hartigan pointed out he still suffers from schizophrenia and hears voices. When he is released from jail he will be committed to a mental institution for treatment.

Judge C. Spence agreed with the sentence recommended by the Crown and defence, and sentenced Farah to 60 days in jail and 18 months probation. Farah must take psychological counselling and counselling for substance abuse, abstain from drugs, alcohol and other intoxicants, and he must submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank.