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Man charged in Île-à-la-Crosse hostage incident gets probation

Niles McCallum was sentenced to 12 months probation and Kristina Ducharme was put on six-months house arrest

MEADOW LAKE -  A man accused of holding a victim hostage, assaulting him, and uttering death threats was handed 12-months probation.

Twenty-nine-year-old Niles McCallum was sentenced on a charge of uttering death threats. Eleven weapons and assault charges against McCallum were stayed Monday in Île-à-la-Crosse circuit court, which is about 218 kilometres north of Meadow Lake and falls under Meadow Lake Provincial Court jurisdiction. 

McCallum was arrested after Île-à-la-Crosse RCMP had received a complaint that an armed man went to a home on Lajeunesse Avenue in Île-à-la-Crosse, held a victim hostage, assaulted and threatened him with death. The victim was eventually allowed to leave.

Police also arrested 37-year-old Kristina Ducharme outside of the home and seized from her a modified firearm, ammunition, a machete, 10 smartphones, three tablets and a small amount of crystal methamphetamine.

Ducharme was given a six-month conditional sentence June 28 on a charge of unlicensed possession of a prohibited firearm. She will serve her sentence in the community rather than go to jail. She was placed on a 24-hour curfew to stay at her home in Saskatoon and ordered not to have any contact with McCallum. She isn’t allowed to consume alcohol or non-prescribed drugs, must attend addictions treatment, and not possess any weapons.

The other charges against her including carrying a concealed firearm, unlawfully transporting a prohibited firearm, and two counts of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose were stayed.

ljoy@glaciermedia.ca