Prison term for man who pointed unloaded rifle at strangers in front of bar

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One man later told police that the gunman demanded money, but no one reacted out of shock, Crown prosecutor Paul Goldstein said.

When Ntungane started walking away, someone from the group tackled him to the ground. Goldstein said others then took his gun away and helped hold him until police arrived.

The gun was a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle, unloaded and without a magazine. However, the people standing outside the bar wouldn’t have known that, Scott noted.

Court heard Ntungane has a prior criminal record including a 90-day sentence for assault. There was no indication of any prior firearm-related offences.

Ntungane told Scott he was intoxicated and has no memory of the incident. He said he doesn’t know what possessed him to point a gun at strangers, but requested to enrol in substance abuse programming while incarcerated.

Goldstein said the joint submission from the Crown and defence — which Scott imposed — was “not arrived at lightly,” and that he felt there was “no choice” but to proceed with a 30-month term.

Both Scott and Goldstein voiced concern over the recent prevalence of firearms in Saskatoon.

“All too often in this court we are seeing the usage of guns rising,” Goldstein said.

bmcadam@postmedia.com

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