BARRHEAD – A youth who brought a fake firearm to class and threatened another student at Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) received a suspended sentence with 18 months of probation.
In Barrhead Provincial Court on March 28, the 16-year-old youth, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous weapon, uttering threats and obstructing a police officer.
Judge Gordon D. Putnam handed down the 18-month suspended sentence in line with a joint submission from the Crown and defence.
As part of the sentence, the youth was ordered to complete 25 hours of community service within the first 12 months, and to write a letter of apology to the victim within the first two months.
He was also ordered to abide by a number of conditions, such as keeping the peace, appearing before court when required, attending any treatment or counselling for life skills as directed by his probation officer, and to not possess any firearms or edged weapons/knives except for the purpose of eating a meal.
Putnam also warned the accused against similar actions in the future, noting that even though he had not used a real gun, “that doesn’t change the way somebody reacts to seeing that.”
“All I can say to you is you can’t do that sort of thing. You probably know that now. It’s just the era that we live in — it’s very traumatizing for people to think that there could be a gun brought into a school setting."
Crown prosecutor Sean Hume said that on Sept. 27, 2022, Barrhead RCMP received a report at approximately 9 p.m. from the vice principal of BCHS that a parent had phoned them to advise a student had brought a gun to school.
Hume said the youth had shown the gun to another student during a first period class, and at the end of the day following last period, the accused had put the gun up against the same student’s back and said something to the effect of “You had better just keep walking.”
Defence lawyer Gary Smith said his client could not recall the specific words that were uttered, but the gist of it was that the other student felt threatened.
Hume said the youth was new to the high school and had only been in attendance for three weeks. Because of these allegations, he was suspended from the school and his foster parents were advised not to allow him to return.
Barrhead RCMP later took a statement from the victim, who confirmed the details of the incident and noted that it appeared to be a real gun.
Eventually, police entered the youth’s foster home and went to his room to wake him up. At the time, the youth had the firearm under his pillow.
“The gun was indeed not real, but it had been painted and appeared sanded in an effort to make it look real,” Hume said.
While the youth was putting on some socks and shoes, he attempted to flee, Hume said. A struggle ensued and the teen was arrested.
He later provided a statement while in custody, accompanied by a social services worker.
Smith noted that the youth had since been re-located to another community away from Barrhead and the hope was for him to attend high school there.
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