By paNOW

Man who threatened families of police sentenced to five months

Jun 8, 2017 | 3:00 PM

A Denare Beach man who threatened to kill the families of police officers was sentenced to spend five months in jail today by a Prince Albert judge.

Morgan Leon Sewap pleaded guilty this morning to uttering death threats against police and their families on two separate occasions. In the first incident, which happened in Abbotsford, B.C. in April of 2016, court heard Sewap was approached by RCMP in a park because he fit the description of a suspect in an unrelated assault. Although he was not the man they were looking for, Sewap was uncooperative and threatening. Officers took him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Crown Prosecutor Gail Douglas said Sewap told the officers he was “going to make house calls” and would “get your families.”

The second incident took place at Denare Beach in May of 2017, Douglas said. Officers from the Creighton RCMP detachment were called to a local business for a complaint about Sewap. When they located him walking on a nearby road, he initially refused to speak to police. Douglas said the police discovered a 14-inch Bowie knife in the waistband of Sewap’s pants. When he was placed into a police car he began to laugh, whistle and make “odd noises.”

According to Douglas, Sewap told one of the officers “you better say goodbye to your family; you’ll lose your mom, your dad; I’ll even sacrifice my life for that.”

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Defence lawyer Rebecca Crookshanks said her client is “quite physically imposing,” which may have led police to give extra weight to his threats. However, because Sewap had been convicted for uttering threats in the past, Crookshanks agreed a jail sentence was appropriate.

Judge Earl Kalenith said the crime was quite serious considering the knife and Sewap’s lengthy criminal record, and sentenced him to five months in jail, less 21 days’ time served.

Sewap, who appeared over video link from Prince Albert Correctional Centre, told the court he had nothing to say before the sentence was imposed.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews