Jeffrey McKellar of Oxbow was in Estevan provincial court on June 22 where he was unrepresented by councel and pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers while being arrested during an incident at the Super 8 hotel. He also pleaded guilty of possessing a controlled substance.
McKellar received a one-year suspended sentence during which presiding judge B.D. Henning said the accused could seek treatment and various counselling. McKellar was also asked to pay a victim fine surcharge, report to his probation officer regularly and write an apology letter to police.
On April 25, police were called to the Super 8 after employees at the hotel found a man intoxicated and passed out in a hallway.
According to the Crown prosecutor, once police arrived, they attempted to place handcuffs on McKellar, who immediately began to pull away. The situation escalated quickly as McKellar tried to swing his elbows widely and as a result, he grazed one of the police officer’s chins. He continued to tussle with police, and while being taken to the police cruiser, he kicked a female officer in the face.
The Crown said at one point, while police were attempting to place his arms behind his back, his wrist bent in such a way it seemed like it was about to break.
Police also found a baggie that contained a small amount of methamphetamine.
Once the circumstances of the offence were noted, Henning asked McKellar if he wished to add anything else before he passed sentence. McKellar said he didn’t fully agree with the police report and that he was still suffering from injuries to his wrists.
He added he wanted to “apologize” to the officers for causing them harm.
Henning said there is the possibility that the accused was improperly subdued during the arrest and that he likely endured more physical pain than the officers, but agreed with the Crown, who said police are well aware of what they are getting into sometimes, but that McKellar’s actions should be “strongly denounced.”
Henning asked the accused what caused McKellar to enter the state he was in, to which he answered he was in a state of extreme depression.
Mitigating factors in McKellar’s case was the fact that he entered a guilty plea at the earliest possible time and that he doesn’t have a previous criminal record.
