Man pleads guilty to weapons charges
By Shurtz, Delon on May 22, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
lethbridge herald
Unless Joshua Ryan McArthur was using a machete to cut his food, he wasn’t supposed to have any weapons when he was arrested last month.
McArthur had previously been ordered by a judge not to possess any weapons, except a knife for eating. But on April 25 there was no food in sight when he was swinging the machete outside the supervised consumption site.
“No one was hurt and he didn’t actually attack anybody,” Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles said Thursday during a sentencing hearing in Lethbridge provincial court.
However, McArthur was charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and breach of release conditions prohibiting him from possessing weapons.
Giles noted McArthur, who pleaded guilty to the charges Thursday, has a criminal record that includes a conviction last November for assault with a weapon.
“That’s why it’s dangerous for him to have a machete,” Giles added.
Lethbridge lawyer Claudia Connolly pointed out her client’s criminal record only dates back to 2017, and until then he was doing well. She added the incident at the consumption site involved substance abuse.
McArthur was sentenced to 21 days in jail on all three charges. He returns to court July 30 to address unrelated charges.
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