Joshua Savoie was sentenced Friday morning at Prince Albert Provincial Court. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

‘He’s getting away with this’: grandmother denounces sentence for man who threatened woman and child with a gun

Nov 17, 2023 | 1:06 PM

Breathing heavily and with tears in her eyes, a woman observing a sentencing hearing at Prince Albert Provincial Court demanded to know why the man who threatened her daughter and granddaughter with a pellet gun, was getting away with it.

The grandmother also cited the long-term trauma the event has had on her family,

Joshua Savoie, 27, received a sentence of essentially six months for the incident that happened just over three years ago. With credit for time spent in remand, he was granted time served and so will be released before the weekend.

The incident in September 2020, occurred outside a Prince Albert apartment complex. The woman and her child were standing near the entrance when approached by Savioie, who then proceeded to inform them he had never killed anyone, but would if he had to.

He then pulled what appeared to be a handgun from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at the frightened females.

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Moments later, the woman’s grandmother intervened and pushed the gun away, allowing the woman and the child to get away. Savoie in turn ran away on foot and was later arrested later by police. The weapon was also found and discovered to be an inoperative pellet gun.

Savoie’s legal aid lawyer explained his client was going through a stressful time, citing anxiety brought on by the pandemic, financial instability, and issues arising from a relationship. The woman he was involved with was allegedly addicted to crystal meth and abusive towards Savoie. It was explained he took his anger out on other people.

When given the opportunity in court to speak, Savoie offered an apology.

“Like my lawyer said, it was a very stressful time,” he said. “I don’t even remember it, to be honest”

While Savoie is being released from custody, he is now on probation for six months which will include a no-contact order with the victims and the grandmother. He’s also prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm for a period of five years.

The grandmother, who was sitting in court, interrupted the proceedings and asked when she would get a chance to speak. She then claimed she was never offered an opportunity to provide a victim impact statement and wanted the sentence to be longer.

“He’s getting away with this,” she said, noting her daughter was not in court out of fear.

The grandmother then went on to explain how the 11-year-old girl who is now 15, was severely traumatized by the event and has now been recently charged with a similar offence, but with bear spray.

“My girl is all messed up,” she said.

Offering his sympathy to the family, Judge Healey explained the joint submission from the lawyers was within the range for this type of charge. Healey also encouraged the woman to seek out support from victims’ services.

“I am totally angry with this,” the grandmother replied.

Judge Healey then turned to Savoie and told him to think hard about the woman’s comments, and then further cautioned him to stay away from all the victims.

“Your actions impact other people,” he said. “I hope we don’t see you again.”

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell