CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who posted a picture of himself with a gun on Facebook along with a message that mentioned shooting from the top of a parkade was given a four-month conditional sentence Wednesday.
Peter Donald MacFadyen, 37, appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to uttering a threat.
Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Lisa Goulden told the court that on Aug. 2 MacFadyen posted a picture on Facebook of himself holding a gun.
Goulden said the post included text that talked about shooting from the top of a parkade on Kent Street in Charlottetown.
There are three parkades in Charlottetown, including one near the corner of Prince and Kent Streets.
Goulden said MacFadyen told police it was a stupid thing to do, and he didn’t mean anything by it.
MacFadyen has been living in the Hillsborough Hospital, and Goulden said the big issue is getting him established in supervised housing.
The court heard MacFadyen has an intellectual disability and is dealing with mental health issues that include delusional disorder and possibly schizophrenia.
“It was his idea of humour. It was a lapse of judgment."
-Defence attorney Alex Dalton
Defence lawyer Alex Dalton told the court the photo was from 2015, and MacFadyen no longer owns the gun he was holding in it.
MacFadyen told her it was a joke and he didn't mean it as a threat, Dalton said.
“It was his idea of humour.”
Dalton also said MacFadyen is apologetic for what he did.
“It was a lapse of judgment,” she said.
Before hearing his sentence, MacFadyen addressed the court to say he regretted what he did, he meant it as a joke and it was out of character.
“I am truly apologetic for what happened,” he said.
In giving MacFadyen a four-month conditional sentence, Douglas followed a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence, saying it was more a mental health and social issue than a criminal matter.
During the conditional sentence, MacFadyen must stay in the Hillsborough Hospital until discharged and then wherever he is directed to live.
MacFadyen will be on probation for one year and will have a five-year weapons prohibition.
