(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

‘He made a significant lapse in judgment’: Gun toting suspect avoids jail time

Nov 30, 2020 | 5:20 PM

Nearly six months after a disturbance at a Prince Albert bar, the man responsible has now been sentenced on all charges and none of it will require any time in custody.

On Monday, Tim Franc, 27, entered a guilty plea to a single charge of careless use of a firearm and received a nine-month conditional discharge. This comes on top of the $1,500 fine he received last July after entering a guilty plea to driving while over a .08 blood alcohol level.

The case dates back to June 19 when, shortly after midnight, police were called to Bugsy’s Bar and Grill for a weapons complaint.

“I am deeply sorry and remorseful for what I did” _{– Tim Franc}

When reading the statement of facts, Crown Prosecutor Robyn Ermine explained when officers spoke with staff, they learned Franc had been there for a number of hours and became belligerent “screaming and shouting at patrons.”

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After being told to leave three times, Franc was out in the parking lot area where he escalated his argument with other customers. A waitress who followed Franc out of the building overheard him saying “you wanna see my gun?”

Crown said Franc pulled a rifle from his truck and held it up.

The waitress ran back inside and told everyone what happened. Franc, in turn, put the gun back in the vehicle and drove off. He was soon after arrested near the tourist information centre. Ermine said no shots were fired and the gun was not directly pointed at anyone.

In her victim impact statement, Ermine said the waitress shared the incident caused her both fear and trauma.

On June 19, police were called to Bugsy’s Bar and Grill shortly after midnight. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Franc’s lawyer Dwayne Braun told the court the incident was sparked in part by a number of stresses in Franc’s life. Just two weeks prior, Franc’s wife left him and he turned to alcohol to cope.

“He made a significant lapse in judgment,” Braun said.

At Franc’s previous sentencing hearing in July, the court heard Franc had experienced a significant stress at work, after learning his own weekend supervisor at Victoria Hospital was charged with the murder of his family.

The man referred to is Nathaniel Carrier, who currently faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents and son. He is also accused in the attempted murder of his young daughter. Franc saw Carrier at work, just two days prior to the victims being found.

Since the incident at Bugsy’s in June, Braun explained Franc took a number of voluntary steps to get his life back on track including attending counselling and other programming for his alcohol issues, as well as getting a job. Franc also plans to go back to school.

“It seems to have worked real well,” Braun said.

Whole noting the seriousness of the charges, Judge Schiefner said he was impressed by the progress Franc made.

While Franc appeared by phone for the hearing Monday at Prince Albert Provincial Court, he did attend in person on July 26, and with his family and friends there to support him, read a lengthy apology letter.

“I’m not excusing my actions for I am deeply sorry and remorseful for what I did,” Franc said.

The conditional discharge means that as long as Franc continues to keep good behaviour and attends alcohol counselling over the next nine months, he won’t have a weapons charge on his criminal record. Both the gun and the ammunition found in the truck were forfeited to police.

—

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell