A young man who threatened to beat his wife’s head into a pulp will be under the close supervision of a psychiatrist for the next 18 months.
Francis William Kelly pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of uttering threats and was given the probationary term, along with 30 days of jail time, which was easily covered by the time he had already spent in custody.
After following them from Edmonton, Kelly confronted his wife’s parents in the parking lot of the Sturgeon Point Villas apartment complex. He demanded to know where she was and threatened her parents.
He said if they wouldn’t tell her where she was he would simply wait until she showed up there. It was then that he threatened to hurt her if he found her.
Police were called and Kelly has been in custody since. After several weeks at the Edmonton remand centre, where he continued to display bizarre behaviour, he was transferred to Alberta Hospital.
Kelly’s lawyer Steven Fix pressed Judge Leo Burgess to give his client only the probationary term, but Burgess said while he saw no need for him to serve more time, he wanted his record to reflect some of the jail time he had already served.
Kelly’s probation term will require him to remain in regular contact with a doctor at Alberta Hospital and follow any treatment he is directed.
If he is released from the hospital he will have to continue to follow the directions from his doctor and from a probation officer who can have him attend treatment and counselling.
A spotty attendance record with his probation officer earned a young man the threat of jail time and a $1,000 fine on Monday.
John Lalonde was put on probation earlier this year, but failed to show up for several early meetings with his probation officer.
Lalonde corrected the problem later on and has been making regular appearances with his probation office for the last three months.
Both the crown and defence suggested the fine, but Judge Leo Burgess said it would not have been the first sentence he had in mind.
“If it was up to me, I would send you to jail right now.”
When the crown and the defence present a joint sentence to a judge, the judge generally imposes it unless the judge believes it is well outside the range of a proper sentence.
