Daniel James Colligan remains at large after skipping a second sentencing hearing in Prince George.
The 39-year-old, convicted of firearms possession and storage charges on Sept. 10, 2024, was absent from his June 27 sentencing hearing, prompting BC Supreme Court Justice Ronald Tindale to issue a bench warrant.
Tindale scheduled Aug. 25 for Colligan to finally be sentenced, but he did not attend the Prince George courthouse.
“The warrant has been outstanding since (June 27) but Mr. Colligan’s counsel set the matter down for Aug. 25 on the assumption that the warrant might have been executed by then,” said Damienne Darby, communications counsel with the BC Prosecution Service. “Defence counsel sought leave to withdraw from the record, which was granted.”
The Crown is expected on Aug. 28 to update Tindale on efforts by the Prince George RCMP to find Colligan.
Colligan’s Port Coquitlam lawyer, Dale Melville, appeared by teleconference on June 27 and explained that he had been “dealing with some non-legal matters” and did not have anyone to stand in for him. Melville had not appeared at four previous hearings.
Also on June 27, Crown prosecutor Rodney Withall told Tindale that he would seek a seven-year jail sentence — six years for possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition and one year for possession contrary to order.
“My submission is that there is no possibility that the court could impose a sentence that would be less than three years,” Withall said in court on that day. “Mr. Colligan ought to start serving his time.”
The Citizen previously reported that RCMP asked the public to help find Colligan after he failed to appear in court in May 2021 to face charges of possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm, possessing a firearm contrary to an order, careless storage of a firearm and two counts of possessing a firearm without a licence or registration.
