Radio personality granted absolute discharge

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on August 19, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge realtor and former Lethbridge radio personality who pleaded guilty in May to a single charge of unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, has been granted an absolute discharge.
Gillian Calista MacLeod was granted the discharge Friday in Lethbridge court of justice, which means even though she pleaded guilty to the charge, she was not convicted and will not have a criminal record.
The Crown recommended a fine and probation, and told court Macleod had received from a friend a taser, which is a prohibited weapon and can only legally be possessed by law enforcement personnel.
However, Calgary lawyer Michael Oykhman asked the judge for an absolute discharge, and said MacLeod accepted the taser as a last resort because she was being stalked by an unknown man and she feared for her safety.
Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles said police discovered the taser while they were investigating someone else, and learned MacLeod was friends with the individual. Police subsequently searched her home and while looking for firearms, found the taser in her purse.
Giles said although less lethal than other weapons, such as guns, tasers are still dangerous and often used by the police to subdue suspects.
“People cannot accept these things unless you are inside a very specific category of people, in law enforcement for example. Nobody is allowed to have these things because of their effectiveness at rendering people incapacitated.”
Oykhman explained MacLeod, 36, never used the taser and only carried it for her protection. He suggested that because of her relatively small stature, the weapon would not have been of much benefit to her.
“That taser was a security blanket more than anything else,” Oykhman said.
He said his client has extensive community involvement and was a radio personality and celebrity in the community and role model for everyone around her.
“We can see she was a good person; my submission is she made a bad decision and the question is, how did that happen?
Oykhman said she had a traumatic experience in which she was stalked by someone for about three years, and she tried to move on from that experience but couldn’t shake the trauma.
“When she got the taser wrongly, it made her feel safe…it was her coping mechanism.”
Oykhman pointed out MacLeod never intended to use the taser as an offensive weapon, but only wanted it for defence. She never bragged about it and never threatened anyone. It was her security blanket.
“Was this a precursor to a life of crime? Was this a character flaw and a demonstration of a sinister personality, or was this a good person making a poor decision” because of her stressful situation?
Oykhman said MacLeod gave police a full confession, even though she didn’t fully realize she had done anything wrong. And she was prepared to co-operate in the investigation of the other individual who was charged with possessing and stealing firearms.
“She took responsibility for this offence, she took accountability, she expressed remorse and you see that in her apology letter.”
Oykhman suggested MacLeod has already suffered from the wide-spread media coverage of the case and the collateral consequences of that.
“She was effectively put on leave from radio; she was taken off the air. That was her life, she loved that.
He added that both her employers in radio and real estate have monitored the case to see the reaction of the court and the public, and that will likely play a significant role in her future prospects in radio and real estate.
“This is the type of person a discharge is meant for. There is no public concern here. There is only public interest, and the public interest weighs heavily toward the imposition of a discharge.”
MacLeod told court buying a taser was out of character for her, but every night during her traumatic experience with the stalker she was piling dishes against her back door and placing chairs under doorknobs before she went to bed
“I regret making the choice I did because I lost everything over it,” MacLeod said. “My radio career I’d worked so hard my entire life to build had crumbled around me in the aftermath. I do apologize sincerely for the way that I handled this matter, and if I could go back and choose a different or better solution, I absolutely would. I never meant to put anyone in harm’s way. I was just plain scared.”
Macleod was also charged with possession of stolen property, possession of a firearm knowing it was obtained by crime, and possession of a firearm knowing possession is unauthorized, but those charges were withdrawn Friday.
The charges stemmed from a police investigation into a break-in last September at Alberta Hardware in Fort Macleod, during which several firearms were stolen. The following December, Fort Macleod RCMP, Lethbridge police and Raymond RCMP searched residences in Stirling and Lethbridge, and MacLeod and Justin Barlow were arrested.
Barlow of Stirling was charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a firearm obtained by crime, unauthorized possession of a firearm knowing it is unauthorized, possession of stolen property for the purpose of trafficking, failure to comply with a release order, and possession of proceeds of crime.

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