Conditional sentence for man who assaulted sister, broke into mother’s home
By Delon Shurtz on September 22, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A Lethbridge man has been placed on house arrest for assaulting his sister and breaking into his mother’s house last year.Andrew John Meisner was given a 12 month conditional sentence Monday in Lethbridge provincial court, where he pleaded guilty to charges of housebreaking and commit mischief, assault, mischief causing damage and failure to comply with an undertaking.
At about 7:20 p.m. May 29, 2020, Meisner’s mother called police because her son was causing a disturbance in her home by punching and damaging walls and saying he wanted to shoot someone.
Crown Prosecutor Sheena Campbell said the woman was concerned because she had previously found a rifle in her son’s bedroom but had removed it.
She told police she wanted her son removed from the house and did not want him to return, and police took him to the homeless shelter. However, at about 10 p.m. that night Meisner returned to the house, but was unable to enter because his keys had been taken away from him earlier in the day.
Meisner was screaming and yelling, and his frightened mother locked herself and her three-year-old grandson in her bedroom, then texted a neighbour for help. Meisner smashed a basement window and climbed into the house, and attempted to disable the security system, which had been activated. He banged on the bedroom door while neighbours tried to calm him, and police arrived shortly afterward.
The accused appeared to be high and was not listening to verbal commands, and was arrested.
“(His mother) was located hiding in the master bedroom with her grandson,” Campbell said. “She appeared terrified but was relieved to see police.”
Lethbridge lawyer Miranda Hlady told court Meisner admits the offences, even though he remembers little of what happened “given the state he was in.”
Meisner was released from custody at about 6:13 a.m. the following day and ordered not to go to his mother’s house. That didn’t stop him, however, and about 90 minutes later a neighbour called police and said Meisner was back at the residence “kicking things,” but had walked away. He was found sitting on a power box nearby.
Meisner was in trouble again Nov. 21 after he and his sister got into an argument. He “snapped,” forcing his sister to hide with her son and boyfriend in her son’s room. Meisner threw things around the house, causing damage and putting a hole in a wall, then went to the bedroom door and began banging on it.
“The accused then punched both fists through the door and was able to push his way into the bedroom, where he slapped and punched (his sister),” Campbell said.
Meisner will be on house arrest during the first six months of his conditional sentence, followed by six months of curfew, when he will have to be in his residence between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day. He is to reside in a residence approved by probation, not have any contact with his mother and sister, not leave Alberta and not consume alcohol or drugs. He must also receive counselling and treatment as directed, submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank, and he is prohibited from possessing weapons for three years. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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