Man sentenced for assault and shoplifting
By Delon Shurtz on July 24, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
A Calgary man who became violent after he stopped taking his medication has received a two-month jail sentence.
Blaine Meakin was sentenced Friday in Lethbridge court, where he pleaded guilty to several counts of assault and a charge of shoplifting. He was also placed on probation for a year and fined $500.
Court was told Meakin, 25, was at the downtown transit terminal in February, where he was seen yelling and screaming at buses. A security guard who saw Meakin, intervened when Meakin ran toward a bus. Concerned that Meakin was going to damage the bus, the guard intercepted the charging man, but Meakin turned on him and kicked him in the leg and punched him in the face. Meakin was ultimately subdued and police arrived to arrest him.
“Mr. Meakin was seated on the sidewalk, banging his head against the wall, after his arrest,” said Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles.
Calgary lawyer Alan Fay explained his client was, at the time, “in a bit of a bad state, mentally,” and his memory of the events is “fuzzy.” But he instructed his lawyer to admit the facts stated by the Crown.
In another incident last January, Meakin was at the homeless shelter and became upset at some of the shelter protocols and started yelling. One of the employees tried to remove Meakin from the premises and was punched in the face after Meakin forcibly removed the employee’s mask. A fellow employee then stepped in to help, but Meakin pulled his mask off, as well, and spit at him. A third staff member intervened, had his mask pulled off, then Meakin pushed him.
When police arrived, Meakin “was railing on about face masks and their connection with the devil.” One of the officers arrested Meakin, and while placing him in handcuffs, Meakin kicked him, reached for some of the items on his utility belt, and stomped on his feet.
Giles pointed out that even though Meakin suffers from schizophrenia, his condition is not such that it excuses him from criminal responsibility.
Fay told court Meakin has been afflicted with mental illness “for some time,” and he was suffering from the effects of that illness when he committed the offences. However, a forensic assessment determined he was fit to stand trial, but he was also diagnosed as having a “psychosis not otherwise specified,” and he suffers from alcohol and substance abuse.
“He stops taking medication, which would otherwise keep him in good shape, and then exacerbates it with the use of street drugs.”
Fay said Meakin was surprised and ashamed when he learned about his actions, and grateful no one was seriously hurt.
“I am really sorry,” Meakin told the judge.
Although handed a jail sentence, Meakin was given full credit for the equivalent of time he spent in custody following his arrest, which concludes his sentence. Fay pointed out his client doesn’t plan to return to Lethbridge, and only left Calgary because he believed people were trying to harm him.
“He realizes that that was misguided, so his intent is to remain in Calgary.”
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Actually, this is how it happened . . . Blaine Meaken had been in the Red Arrow office trying to get the Calgary Shelter to pay for a ticket to Calgary. The Red Arrow staff worked very hard to accommodate the subject, but were unable to find someone to pay for his ticket.
Blaine Meakin left the office, going into the bus loading and unloading area, called the breezeway of the Lethbridge Park N Ride terminal, where the Red Arrow bus also loads/unloads.
Blaine Meakin walked towards the back of the Red Arrow bus that had recently arrived, the driver standing in the breezeway in front of the bus, door closed. Meakin began screaming loudly, F— this city, I just want to get to Calgary, while holding his possessions, all in a small basket. He then set the basket down on the sidewalk behind the bus, then ran at the bus kicking it as hard as it could and hitting it with his hand, several times, still in his rant!
He then was going towards the bus driver, who was just getting ready to enter the doors of the lobby of the terminal.
At that point the guard intervened. That terminal is considered a ‘hands-off’ site meaning, only in extreme cases does the guard become physcially involved. The guard needs to call police to deal with issues, while continuing to protect property and people.
In this case, once the subject was going towards the driver, it was clear the situation had escalated to a point the guard had to intervene.
The guard attempted to restrain Meakin, while making sure that he was being held in a manner not to cause injury, instead of putting him onto the ground, when he was struck after several failed attempts by Meakin.
The guard pushed Meakin against the bus in an attempt to secure Meakin in a better fashion, when the subject got a firm grip on the outer engine grill on the side of the bus for venting, near the rear. That is when Meakin starting banging his head on the side of the bus, causing it to bleed.
Another guard arrived and both broke Meakin’s grip on the bus grill was properly restraining the subject until police arrived soon there-after and took custody.
I have first hand knowledge of the event! I hope this young man gets the help he needs . . . there are too many ineffective treatment programs that need to be cut or changed . . . . better to get rid of them and use the proven treatment programs for drug abuse. I would have rather seen him put back into an effective treatment program the works than in jail and them back on the street.
We really need to change the judicial and penal systems and improve our mental health treatment programs and our drug treatment programs.
When is the next time he goes off his meds . . . it doesn’t matter if he has promised not to come back to Lethbridge . . . he could just as easily harm someone in Calgary!
We need improved treatment programs and follow up after! Only a guess, but it almost appeared that this person had been sent here from Calgary, from a shelter, enrolled in a treatment program here in Lethbridge, where he then walked away from it . . . the small plastic basket with his few belongings appeared to be issued by some place. I have nothing to confirm that and it is only an assumption.
We can do better for these people and for society! Too many tax dollars are burned up, literally, on useless programs that fail!