The man grabbed a shotgun, shoved the victim onto a bed, pointed it at her and told her to leave or “he would shoot both of them.”
A Saskatoon judge says the combination of alcohol and anger ended in domestic violence when a Saskatoon man threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun last year.
“It’s concerning when anger and alcohol result in this type of conduct, because it very often ends in someone’s death, whether intentionally or unintentionally,” Judge Marilyn Gray told Kihew Moccassin during the man’s sentencing hearing last month in Saskatoon’s Domestic Violence Treatment Option (DVTO) court.
Court heard the 25-year-old man came home from a party on April 8, 2023 and began to argue with his partner over a video that had been posted from the party.
Moccassin grabbed a shotgun from its case, shoved the victim onto a bed, pointed it at her and told her to leave or “he would shoot both of them,” according to the facts read out in court.
The woman knew the gun was unloaded when she grabbed their child and left as Moccassin went to get ammunition for the gun, court heard.
Moccassin pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and careless use of a firearm. Gray accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence for a six-month conditional sentence — jail served in the community on conditions — followed by 12 months of probation.
DVTO court is a therapeutic court that usually sentences offenders who plead guilty to treatment programs rather than jail. However, the Crown said Moccassin’s sentence reflects the fact that he “missed a year’s worth of programming opportunities.”
Defence lawyer Linh Pham said Moccassin wants to take counselling and treatment for his alcohol use disorder. Moccassin told Gray he hasn’t sought any kind of treatment so far.
“I just wanted to apologize. I do regret my actions that night. I will complete the programs offered, and I would like to move past this,” he said.
Pham said his client, who has no prior criminal record, was “highly intoxicated” the night of the offence and has been abstaining from alcohol “except for one occasion, which led to another criminal charge.”
Moccassin’s conditions include participating in assessments and treatment, as directed, for addiction, domestic violence and anger management, as well as counselling.
Gray made an order prohibiting Moccassin from contacting his ex unless it’s “further ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.” If he breaches his conditions, he could serve the rest of his sentence in jail.
Moccassin, who court heard is a hunter, is also banned from possessing firearms for five years.
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