A former Penticton man has avoided jail time for his role in a gun-related incident at a local motel.
Sean Conrad Douglas Gunn, 42, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of possession of a prohibited firearm and received a seven-month conditional sentence.
The matter had been scheduled for a two-day trial on five charges, but the other counts were dropped in exchange for his plea.
In relating the circumstances of the “fairy alarming” offence to the court, Crown counsel Ian Currie said police were called to the Highland Motel late on Nov. 25, 2011, after a witness reported seeing a man with a gun.
Currie said the witness, who lived at the motel, told police she heard a commotion in the room beside her and heard someone say, “Don’t make me do it. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
She went to look and saw Gunn with a firearm pointed at a neighbour. She said Gunn then told her to call police.
Mounties arrested Gunn without a struggle and a loaded, black revolver was found on a table inside the motel room, Currie said.
The Crown said Gunn was using cocaine at the time of the incident but has since turned his life around, so a sentence of up to nine months to be served in the community would be appropriate.
Defence counsel Alain Hepner said his client works as a welder in Fort McMurray and was in Penticton to visit his mom, but also met up with old friends and “cocaine was unfortunately part of that backdrop.”
Hepner said his client pulled the gun because he “believed he was going to be the victim of an assault or worse.”
Gunn’s work schedule includes long shifts and stretches in camp, so the Crown asked that the conditional sentence not include a curfew.
Judge Gale Sinclair went along with that request, but did impose conditions on Gunn that prohibit him from consuming drugs or alcohol and visiting bars.
He must also warn Penticton RCMP when he plans to visit.