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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2008-02-28, Page 17An RR1. Gorrie man has been sentto jail for a year. Murray Kenneth Thornton, 45,pled guilty in Wingham court in Jan.17 to impaired driving and to driving while disqualified. Sentencing was put over to the Feb. 21 court date. Noting that his client had experienced some good stretches of sobriety in the past, defence counsel Mike Donnelly partially blamed his occupation as a beef farmer for the recent slide. “The stresses led him back to the bottle,” he told Judge R.G.E. Hunter. Thornton has four previous drinking-and-driving convictions. Hunter sentenced him to nine months for driving drunk and three months consecutive for driving while his licence was suspended. ASSAULT WITH A WEAPON A Lucknow man will be sentenced next month after being convicted of assault with a weapon. Bruce Donald McGrail pled not guilty to the offence, which occurred April 15. The first witness was the victim, McGrail’s former landlord. He testified that having served an eviction notice to the accused he arrived on the property later that day. While speaking to McGrail’s common-law spouse, the victim said he was approached by the accused. “He had a hammer in his hand and was swinging it at me, yelling and screaming he was going to hit me.” Asked by attorney for the Crown Don Vale how close McGrail came to him the witness said, “He was right in my face. I was not that afraid but he could very well have hit me.”The man said he went to his truckand called 9-1-1. Defence counsel GrantMacKinnon asked if there hadn’t actually been a confrontation between the two a few days earlier. “There wasn’t any time I talked to Bruce it didn’t end in an argument,” said the witness. However, asked by MacKinnon if he hadn’t in an earlier disagreement grabbed the accused by the neck, the victim said, “I don’t recall that at all.” McGrail’s common-law spouse was the first defence witness. She said that McGrail had been moving tools from the house to a van. She said that the landlord had approached her and was yelling and swinging his arms and McGrail came to protect her. Though she admitted he had a hammer, she said he held it at his side. Another witness who was sitting in the van said he saw the confrontation but didn’t see a hammer in the accused’s hand. However, asked about whether they had been moving tools that day he said no. In his testimony McGrail said he thought the victim had been attacking his wife. “I kind of lost it, but I did not swing no hammer at him.” Under cross-examination he agreed that he did not put the hammer down with the rest of the tools before confronting the victim. “No matter what you did with it, you armed yourself with a hammer.” “I guess, but it was to protectmyself,” said McGrail.In summation, MacKinnon said,“It would be dangerous to convict onthis evidence. Picking up a hammer as protection is not in my submission, assault with a weapon.” Hunter thought otherwise. While he agreed McGrail may not have been swinging the hammer, he accepted the fact that the accused had used it in a “threatening way. I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that (the victim) had a reasonable apprehension of being assaulted.” McGrail will also be sentenced in March for careless use of a firearm and for assault. He pled guilty to these charges, laid Sept. 24. A pre-sentence report is being prepared. ARSON A night of bad decision has cost a young man plenty. Trevor Anthony Maxwell received a hefty fine, an order of restitution and a lengthy probation period after pleading guilty to arson. In the early morning hours of Sept. 1 Maxwell and a young offender poured gasoline on a large stack of square hay bales in Howick Twp. and set them on fire. A third youth videotaped the incident. Duty counsel John Myers said the 19-year-old Maxwell’s foster parents had said he was experiencing behavioural problems in recent years, was rude, defiant and impulsive. “He has indicated himself he is in need of counselling to make better decisions.”Vale said the situation wasworsened by the fact that theaccused had just come off probationa short time before on a mischief conviction. “He didn’t fare well on probation obviously. This was malicious destruction with intent.” Incarceration, he said, might “bring home to him” the seriousness of his actions. Hunter fined Maxwell $3,000, which he has one year to pay. He must make restitution in the amount of $650 to the fire department, and $1,232 to the insurance company within nine months. He was placed on probation for two years and ordered to submit a sample of his DNA. IMPAIRED Kelly Edward Costello of Waterloo pled guilty to driving while impaired in Morris-Turnberry. Vale said on July 31 police found an abandoned vehicle that had sustained severe damage. It had noplates, but police did locate a wallet containing the accused’s identification, and the keys. A motorist told police they had given a ride to the driver, who had apparently struck a deer, said Vale. Another witness told police they saw the accused toss the plates into a garbage can. These were later recovered. When Costello was located, he was arrested and taken for breathalizer readings. They were 140 and 150 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. The 20-year-old was fined $850 and his licence was suspended for 12months. Hunter gave him six months to paythe fine. CARE AND CONTROL Thomas David Law of Strathmore, Alberta pled guilty to having care and control of a motor vehicle while his impaired by alcohol. On Oct. 15, Vale said, police had been contacted about a man sleeping in a cafe. The witness said Law had arrived at 5:05 a.m. shortly after the business opened. He had talked about being out the previous night and fell asleep at the counter at 7 a.m. Police found him in a parking lot, slumped over the wheel of his vehicle. Vale said the engine was running, revving at a high rate and there was smoke coming from under the hood. Law did not provide breath sample for analysis. The 43-year-old was fined $750 and was prohibited from driving for a year. FOUND GUILTY Despite his counsel’s best efforts to raise issues about the investigating officer’s inexperience, an RR4, Wingham man isn’t going to be driving for a year. Richard Goetz was charged with driving with over 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood on Oct. 8. A witness had seen Goetz leaving a party next door to her home. She overheard him arguing with another male who felt the accused should not be driving. When Goetz got into the THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008. PAGE 17. 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