A 46-year-old man who left an angry phone message for a relative will be on probation for two years after pleading guilty to one of three charges of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
In Prince George Provincial Court on July 30, Judge Michael Brecknell agreed to a joint Crown/defence proposal for Wade Allan Barks to serve the suspended sentence. Crown stayed the two other charges.
Brecknell said that Barks “obviously went overboard” during a family dispute over the division of property after the 2023 death of his mother. Barks had taken a year and a half away from his work as a tree-feller to be her caregiver and was suffering financial stress.
On July 30, 2024, Barks was arrested at the Prince George RCMP detachment and released on an undertaking after complaints that he had left threatening, expletive-laden voice mail messages on July 21, 2024.
On one of the messages, Barks demanded his rifles and hunting licence be returned or he would “bring 10 guys there” to get them back. He also threatened to bury a relative “low down in the ground.”
Rather than threatening his relatives, Brecknell said Barks should have asked for the items to be returned or else he would ask the police to intervene.
“He recognizes that his behaviour was inappropriate and is taking full responsibility,” said defence lawyer Kimi Aimetz.
Brecknell said Barks is “not the only person to stand by a parent while their parent was suffering and then to get ripped-off by their siblings. Unfortunately, it happens more often than not.”
The probation conditions include an order to stay away from and not contact certain relatives. Barks must also attend a counselling program as recommended by his probation officer. He cannot possess any firearm, except for his protection at the worksite.
