P.E.I. man sentenced for forcible confinement, firearms offences
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A P.E.I. lady who was held towards her will and had a loaded gun fired twice beside her advised a courtroom that she had to choose – both keep contained in the offender’s residence and die or make a run for it.
“I assumed Chris (Donovan) was going to place the following two bullets into me and that my kids would get up the following day with out a mom,” mentioned the lady studying a sufferer affect assertion in provincial court docket in Charlottetown on Feb. 7 at Christopher Steven Donovan’s sentencing. “I knew it was higher to at the very least try to get out alive than to surrender.”
Sentencing delayed
Donovan, 46, pleaded responsible on Jan. 3 to a number of offences – forcible confinement, uttering threats to trigger dying or bodily hurt, mischief for interfering with the lawful use or enjoyment of property, careless use of a firearm, possession of a firearm with out a licence and possession of a firearm whereas prohibited by a court docket order. Donovan pleaded responsible on Feb. 7 to a further cost of careless storage of a firearm in relation to the Nov. 12 incident. Sentencing was delayed on Jan. 3 as a result of Decide Nancy Orr had issues with the four-month joint advice proposed by the Crown and Donavan’s lawyer Aaron Giddings, particularly since a gun was fired close to the lady through the offences.
In response to the details learn in court docket, on Nov. 12, the lady and Donovan obtained into an argument, and she or he went to his residence in Village Inexperienced to assemble her belongings. Donovan grabbed her and prevented her from leaving. Donovan then took his .22-calibre rifle and fired two photographs 5 ft away from her right into a wall in his lounge. She managed to get exterior to her automobile and drive away. Donovan later texted the lady that he was at her dwelling. She noticed Donovan’s automobile in her driveway, so she continued driving and returned when he was gone. Then round 6 p.m., the lady phoned police as a result of Donovan was banging on her door and making an attempt to get inside her dwelling. Police arrived and arrested Donovan.
Points round gun fired
With respect to Donovan allegedly firing a gun twice inside his residence, Crown lawyer John Diamond mentioned there was no bodily proof of that occurring as a result of police did not retrieve the bullets from the wall. Diamond did verify that there was contemporary, damp plaster on Donovan’s wall the place the bullets have been reportedly shot into. The girl mentioned in court docket that not solely did Donovan fireplace the gun twice, he mentioned he was going to shoot, or “take out,” anybody developing the driveway, together with first responders.
The girl additionally supplied particulars about escaping from Donovan’s dwelling. She mentioned that when she obtained inside her automobile, she locked the doorways. Donavan ran out after her, jumped on the hood of the automobile and tried to punch by the entrance windshield, she mentioned. She rolled her window down barely and advised Donovan to return over and speak to her. When he did, she drove away. The girl additionally advised police about an incident in October when Donovan threatened to tie her up inside her dwelling and burn it down.
For the reason that Nov. 12 incident, the lady mentioned she has been coping with anxiousness, melancholy, problem falling asleep and nightmares. “After I do sleep, I’ve a recurring nightmare that Chris is holding a gun to my head and I am begging him to let me reside,” she mentioned.
4-month sentence
Giddings additionally supplied the court docket with data on his consumer’s private circumstances, together with alcohol habit and psychological well being points involving melancholy and anxiousness. Donovan had a previous prison document, together with gun offences from 2004.
With extra data on the gun offence inside the house and particulars on the connection between Donovan and the lady, Orr accepted the joint advice and sentenced Donovan to 4 months in jail for the entire offences and two years of probation, together with a no-contact order with the lady and a requirement to put on an digital monitoring bracelet.
Donovan was additionally sentenced to a lifetime weapons ban, a DNA order, fined $500 and ordered to pay a $150 sufferer surcharge. 5 firearms and ammunition seized by police from Donovan’s dwelling on Nov. 12 have been forfeited. Donovan was given credit score for time already spent in custody and had no additional time left to serve on the sentence.
