Conditional sentence for man involved in neighbour dispute

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on November 26, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who couldn’t stay out of trouble for more than 90 minutes after he was released from police custody, has been ordered to obey a curfew for the next three months.

Josh Leonard Cyr, 40, was fined and given a three-month conditional sentence Friday in Lethbridge court, where he pleaded guilty to criminal charges of assault, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and failing to comply with an undertaking. He also pleaded guilty to contravening the city’s graffiti bylaw.

At about 8 p.m. on Jan. 15 of last year a woman called police and said someone had ordered food from four restaurants and had it delivered to her house. The woman suspected it was a neighbour with whom she had previous disputes.

When police arrived they heard the woman and Cyr talking in the back alley. At the same time police received a report that the woman and Cyr had uttered threats toward another man, which the man video recorded on his phone.

Crown Prosecutor Bruce Ainscough said Cyr told the man, “don’t f–k with my brother next door, I will f—ing ruin you. One more time the Hell’s Angels will come here.”

Cyr then threw a can of beer at the man, hitting him in the hand, and then punched him in the chest.

Cyr was arrested, charged with assault and uttering threats, and released on a condition that he not have any contact with two individuals. However, 90 minutes later Cyr was yelling over his fence at his neighbour with whom he was not to have any contact, and said, “you work at Costco, I heard.”

Ainscough said Cyr was, in a threatening manner, letting his neighbour know he knew where he worked, and he was arrested again and charged with breaching his release orders.

The Following June Cyr was in trouble again after he threw a burning marijuana joint at a woman. The woman and her husband were stopped at a traffic light on 13 Street and 5 Avenue North when an acquaintance who was on a motorcycle and parked in a nearby parking lot challenged the other man to a fight and told him to follow him.

The biker led the couple to a nearby home, where Cyr approached the woman in the car and flicked a lit joint at her through the open window. The joint burned her lip and then dropped and burned her clothes.

Nearly a year later, on March 4 of this year, Cyr went to the Canadian Brewhouse on Mayor Magrath Drive South and was caught on video surveillance using some type of ink marker to draw symbols and other things on the walls inside the business. Damage was estimated to be about $1,000.

As part of his 90-day conditional sentence for the assault and threats charges, Cyr must obey a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day, with exceptions for work and medical emergencies. He will also be on probation for one year following his sentence, during which he is prohibited from contacting the complainants, and he must take counselling for anger management and substance abuse. He was also fined $250 each for the breach charge and bylaw infraction.

Defence told court Cyr took anger management in 2020, had stopped drinking several months ago and was volunteering at the animal shelter and Prairie Pet Rescue, a group of volunteers that rescues and finds homes for abandoned and unwanted animals.

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