Already serving an 18-month in-house probation sentence for domestic assault, Stephen Edwin Douglas Harper will spend another six months on probation for uttering death threats against an acquaintance.
Harper, 27, appeared in Moose Jaw provincial court on Feb. 3, where he pleaded guilty to uttering threats to cause death. As part of a joint submission, he received a suspended sentence and six months of probation. This will start immediately and be served alongside his current term of probation.
As part of his conditions, he is to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, have no contact with the victims, not be within 50 metres of the victims’ home, work or school, and not be within five metres of the victims.
The Crown stayed two charges of failing to appear in court.
A man and a woman went to police on July 6, 2019, to report that Harper had made death threats against the man, explained Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff. The three people had met in the Rexall Drug Store parking lot, where Harper told the man he would “knock his lights out.”
This appeared to be an ongoing issue that began around May 6, 2019, when Harper asked the man to help clean a mutual friend’s home. However, on one occasion, Yusuff continued, Harper told the man he didn’t want to see him at the house ever again, otherwise, “if I catch you, you’re a dead man.”
Harper later assaulted the man by hitting him on May 7, but the victim did not want to press charges since he feared that Harper would carry out his threats of death.
Yusuff noted Harper was later charged with domestic assault on July 17, 2019. However, he had been doing well on probation since then, which Yusuff thought Judge Brian Hendrickson should take into consideration when handing down a sentence.
“I haven’t had any issues (since then),” Harper told Hendrickson. “I don’t even leave my house unless it’s for probation or something. I’m trying to keep my nose clean. I’m trying to turn my life around so I can get my kids back.”
Harper explained that he met the victim through mutual friends. Their friend needed help maintaining her home since she was experiencing health issues, so Harper asked the man to come help clean. However, the man came over one day with cleaning supplies and allegedly lost his cool on Harper, which led to Harper becoming aggressive and telling the man to leave.
“I understand I have anger issues, which is why I am in a program,” said Harper, adding he did say he would beat up the man but not do anything else. Since then, he said he has worked to turn his life around. He is also desperate to leave Moose Jaw, especially since his two children live in Calgary.
“I’m like a big teddy bear with anger issues,” he added.
Moose Jaw provincial court next meets Feb. 4.
