Westlock man receives 45 days in jail for breach of probation

BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - A Westlock man received 45 days in jail for breaching a no-contact order as part of his probation, but due to the number of days he has spent in pre-trial custody, he will only have to serve 18 days.

Justice Carrie-Anne Downey handed down the sentence to Peter Joseph Byer, who pleaded guilty to failure to comply with a probation order during the Nov. 12 Barrhead Court of Justice sitting.

The sentence was part of a joint Crown and defence submission.

The Crown also withdrew three other charges of failing to comply with undertaking or release order conditions and a charge of possessing a controlled substance.

Byer is also facing four federal charges on another matter, including possession for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking of a controlled substance and two charges of failing to comply with release order conditions.

He is expected to speak to those charges on Nov. 26.

The facts

Crown prosecutor Robert Klein said the charge stemmed from an incident on July 24, 2024, when Barrhead RCMP responded to a suspicious vehicle report.

RCMP located the vehicle and identified the driver as Peter Byer.

"Mr. Byer had outstanding warrants and, as a result, was arrested," he said. 

Klein added before he exited the vehicle, Byer told police that he needed his medication, saying the accused then searched through the glove compartment, locating some Claritin.

"Mr. Byer then attempted to call or text [an individual for which he had a no-contact order in place]," he said, clarifying the only way the accused could contact the individual was via a court order or law society member.

Klein then said that Byer threw an undisclosed number of bags in his vehicle as he walked to Cpl. Filipe Vicente's police unit.

"[The bags] were later found to contain marijuana and methamphetamines and were in plain view," he said. "[Then Byer] spontaneously uttered that he had been living at [the individual's residence that the accused was forbidden to have contact with]."

Crown's sentencing position

Klein noted that the accused had a lengthy criminal record dating back to October 1996 as a youth, with entries going to September 2023.

"Obviously, his criminal record is an unenviable one, but in this instance, we do have that balance it with the mitigation of any early guilty plea, saving society the time and expense associated with a trial," he said.

The defence

Byer's lawyer, Ashlee Kirby, reiterated that the court should credit her client for his early guilty plea, and while she agreed with the 

Crown, who said that "his record was unenviable," had several gaps, demonstrating his efforts to get his life in order.

She also noted the 45-day sentence is a step up from his previous breach convictions.

On Sept.10, Justice Downey sentenced Byer to 80 days after he pleaded guilty to four no-contact breaches. 

Kirby also noted there were significant Gladue issues at play; they were not requesting a Gladue report.

A Gladue report is a pre-sentencing report that courts can use when considering the multitude of factors that can lead an Indigenous person to become in conflict with the law. 

She noted Byer's grandparents and parents attended residential schools.

"These are the residential schools where the mass graves are being found," she said.

Kirby noted a previous Gladue report that Byer grew up in a home with domestic violence where his father abused him.

"His father was white, his mother indigenous," she said. "His father indicated that he resented Mr. Byer for being Indigenous, and as a result, he has grown up with that shame of that internal racism which he struggles with to this day."

She added her client has been in custody since Oct. 26, which means he has spent 18 real days in custody.

Kirby said that 1.5 enhanced credit for pre-sentencing custody would mean 18 days left to serve.

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com