CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who recorded himself berating an employee at the province’s family law office was sentenced recently to 27 days in jail on two charges.
Vernon Blake Wood, 34, appeared before Judge Jeff Lantz in provincial court in Charlottetown by video from jail where he was sentenced for breaching an undertaking and causing a disturbance.
Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald told the court that on Sept. 17, 2019, Wood had contact with the family law office several times throughout the morning.
MacDonald said Wood became belligerent over the phone before showing up at the office where he started to berate an employee.
The court heard Wood started to record the incident and continued what MacDonald called a “tirade”.
MacDonald said he continued when the employee’s supervisor came out and Wood repeatedly used expletives throughout the incident.
At one point, Wood told the employee she should go jump off a bridge, MacDonald said.
The court heard sheriffs were called, and several responded with MacDonald saying they were “exceedingly polite” as they dealt with Wood.
MacDonald said Wood eventually left and sped away, but when the police stopped him, he continued to be belligerent.
After the police had Wood in a holding cell, he took off his clothes and sat there as they tried to deal with him, MacDonald said, adding that he eventually put them back on.
In a separate incident, Lantz previously found Wood guilty of breaching an undertaking by having contact with a woman, despite a no-contact condition.
Wood gave the woman the finger, which Lantz determined constituted contact.
MacDonald told the court a pre-sentence report described Wood as having cognitive difficulties, mental health issues and a low to average IQ.
Before sentencing Wood, Lantz said the disturbance was obviously uncomfortable for the staff he berated in public and it was probably scary for them.
The breach of an undertaking may have been on the lower end of the scale but was an ongoing matter with that victim, Lantz said.
Along with the jail time, Wood will be on probation for two years after his release from custody.
