REGINA – Passing out in a vehicle next to a gun will get you in trouble.
That’s what Justin Ray McKay, 37, discovered in Regina Provincial Court this morning from the prisoner’s box. Appearing on a nine-count information, he entered guilty pleas to charges of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possessing a firearm while prohibited, and failure to comply with a probation order. The Crown intends to stay the remaining six counts.
According to facts read in court by the Crown, RPS members were sent to an alley on the 1900 block of Cameron Street on March 18, 2022. When they arrived, they found McKay passed out in the driver’s seat of a black Chevrolet Equinox.
When police removed the man from the vehicle, they asked “if he had anything on him that could hurt the officer,” to which McKay advised there was a sawed off shotgun in the vehicle. Another officer could see the handle of a firearm sticking out of a book bag in the vehicle.
Police later confirmed that it was a functioning firearm, although was a .22 calibre rifle and not a shotgun.
Given McKay’s previous convictions - some 53 entries on his criminal record, including robbery and kidnapping - the Crown is seeking a tougher jail sentence. The suggestion made from the Crown was 3.5 years for the first charge, and a further six months consecutive on the second charge McKay in which McKay pleaded guilty, with the remaining breach charge served concurrent.
According to MacKay’s lawyer, the man had arrived at the location in the company of other individuals, who left the vehicle and did not return. McKay fell asleep, and “was loosely aware of the fact that the vehicle may have had a firearm in the bag in the front seat.”
Defence suggested a term of 18 months to two years less a day for the first charge, and six months consecutive probation for the second count. McKay has been in custody since the time of his arrest, almost two years.
Judge Lane Wiegers set the matter to return before the court on June 23.
McKay is also co-accused with Deanna Marilyn McKay (who also appeared in court June 20) in another matter from March 5, 2022 where two women had allegedly been kidnapped, held against their will, assaulted, and robbed. Both Justin and Deanna were the subject of a Canada-wide warrant relating to the matter. Both are now set to appear in King’s Bench to deal with the joint matter.
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