Unexpected rooftop visitor receives fine for trespassing

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on December 6, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

With barely three weeks before Christmas, Santa Claus is still getting ready for his annual trip around the world, so when a Lethbridge woman heard someone on her roof about 3:15 a.m. last Friday, it wasn’t the jolly ole elf making his appointed rounds.
The woman called police after she looked out her window and noticed the door to her vehicle was open. While officers were responding, they received a call from another resident who said a man was on his deck in his backyard, and was ringing the doorbell and banging on the door.
When police arrived they found Liam Guiomar Barreira on the deck and they detained him while they made inquiries with the first complainant to determine if anything had been taken from her vehicle. That prompted Barreira to make a confession.
“Mr Barreira, when he heard the police asking that inquiry, stated, without prompting, ‘I was on the roof, too,’ ” Crown Prosecutor Bob Morrison said Tuesday in Lethbridge court of justice, where Barreira pleaded guilty to a single charge of trespassing at night.
Barreira, who is a roofer, was suspected of being impaired by drugs or suffering from a mental health issue.
The frightened homeowner told police that when he responded to the disturbance at the back door, he saw Barreira and heard him say he was being chased by people in a truck. Barreira was also pacing back and forth and appeared “somewhat out of sorts,” Morrison said.
Margaret Morse, student at law with the Hadford Defence Group, told court the 28-year-old man, who has a six-year-old child, was under the influence at the time of the offences.
“He tells me he was in a drug-induced state at the time, and he may have underlying mental health issues,” Morse said.
Although Justice Sylvia Oishi accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence for a $250 fine, Oishi warned Barreira that he could face time in custody if he gets into more trouble.
“It appears that you have some insight to what caused this, but you don’t want to find yourself in this situation again,” Oishi said. “At jeopardy is your full-time employment. You’re a father, you need to be there for your child, you can’t afford to spend your time in jail.
“What you need to know is that people need to feel safe in their own homes at night. You caused at least two households to be very concerned and afraid, and they will carry that for some time going forward.”
Barreira had also been charged with a second count of trespassing at night, two counts of mischief and one count of failing to comply with release conditions, but those charges were withdrawn.

Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter

4
-3