A 51-year-old aircraft mechanic has been handed a 22-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon.
Court heard evidence that Shawn Donnelly caused a drunken disturbance inside an Angus restaurant in March 2024. Police were called, but by the time the Nottawasaga OPP officers arrived at the scene, Donnelly had left the premises.
He was spotted a short distance away, across Mill Road in the Dairy Queen parking lot, by another officer, not the one who answered the original disturbance call.
Donnelly was recognized from his previous dealings with police.
Court heard that Donnelly twice dropped a weapon from his waistband. When police arrested him, he informed the officers that he was armed.
A Smith & Wesson pistol with a filed-off serial number and a full eight-bullet magazine, but with none in the firing chamber, was found on Donnelly.
Court also heard that Donnelly was heavily intoxicated. His struggles with alcohol were a recurring theme of the 30-minute court proceeding on Tuesday at the Barrie courthouse.
“There are so many things that could have happened,” Ontario Court Justice Sarah Tarcza said in her remarks while passing sentence and accepting the joint resolution between the Crown and Donnelly’s lawyer, Mike Miller.
“(Addiction) is not an excuse for your behaviour … You have to do something about it” upon your release, Tarcza added.
“He understands what he did was very dangerous,” Miller told the court on his client’s behalf. “He was very, very drunk at the time … He is just glad no one was injured or harmed.”
Donnelly held a valid gun licence, but court heard that it was not applicable to the weapon that was found in his possession.
No details were provided as to how Donnelly came into its possession, or why it had its serial number removed.
Donnelly’s weapon was forfeited. Other antique guns that his father possessed legally in the residence that they shared can now be returned to the elder Donnelly as the case has been resolved.
Donnelly, a father who had separated from his partner, was originally charged with a slew of gun and weapons charges.
He pleaded guilty to a single charge of possession of a prohibited weapon and the other charges were withdrawn.
Court heard that Donnelly had a criminal record, but no other details were provided other than they were mostly related to his struggles with alcohol.
According to his lawyer, Donnelly’s most recent brush with the law also cost him his job that he was preparing to move to Manitoba for when he was arrested.
Donnelly’s year in custody was enhanced to 542 total days in line with the 1.5:1 ratio typically granted to offenders who serve pre-sentence custody at Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene.
Donnelly has about four months left to serve.
He's also subject to a 10-year weapons ban and an order to provide his DNA upon release.
