CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who knocked over Green party signs, assaulted a stranger and had to be Tasered three times by police was recently given time served for multiple offences he committed while drunk.
Robert Dwayne Kelly, 47, appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown where he pleaded guilty to several offences, including assault and uttering threats.
Before hearing his sentence, Kelly told the court he had 25 years of avoidable incidents that were related to alcohol.
“I need to man up,” he said.
Crown attorney Lisa Goulden told the court that on Feb. 14, Kelly was highly intoxicated when the police arrested him under the Liquor Control Act.
Goulden said Kelly became agitated and threatened the police.
Once the police had Kelly inside a vehicle, he was screaming and kicking the divider between the front and back seats known as a silent patrolman.
Goulden said the officers warned Kelly they would pepper spray him if he continued, which he did.
They eventually pulled over to spray him.
In a separate incident on March 31, Kelly was involved in an altercation with several young males on University Avenue in Charlottetown after they saw him shoving and knocking down Green party election signs.
Kelly yelled at some of the youths and Goulden said when a third tried to intervene Kelly hit him.
Goulden said Kelly later went to the Charlottetown police detachment and got into an empty vehicle.
As two officers were responding to a call about the altercation, they saw Kelly get in the vehicle.
The officers saw that Kelly was bleeding from a finger and they didn’t know if he was a suspect or a victim, Goulden said.
Kelly continued to be confrontational with the officers who arrested him.
He resisted and three other officers came out of the detachment to help subdue Kelly who had to be Tasered three times before they could get him under control.
Goulden said one of the officers had a minor injury from the incident.
During her submissions, Goulden said a lot of Kelly’s interactions with the police are when he is drinking and he acts irrationally to instructions.
Kelly’s actions are becoming more concerning, Goulden said.
“Someone could get hurt here if it keeps escalating.”
Addressing the court, Kelly said Goulden’s comments were 100 per cent accurate and he called alcohol his nemesis.
“A lot of these circumstances could have definitely been avoided,” he said.
Kelly told the court the police have treated him kindly when he is sober.
“There is no animosity that exists for me personally towards them.”
He also said he had no ill will toward the Green party.
Douglas sentenced him to 90 days in jail and gave him conditional discharges on two of the charges leaving him no further time on his sentence after credit for time served since his arrest.
Kelly will be on probation for one year, which includes a condition that he undergo any assessments, counselling or treatment as directed.
