The man at the centre of a police-involved shooting in June of 2009 and facing further charges in connection to another alleged assault in Gibsons on May 8 has pled guilty to all the charges in provincial court.
Leonard Joel Kirkham, 36, entered the guilty pleas in Sechelt Provincial Court on Wednesday, May 25.
Crown counsel Trevor Cockfield said Kirkham pled guilty to a charge of possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace, a hammer, in connection to a June 2009 incident. At that time, Kirkham was shot twice by Sunshine Coast RCMP when they were asked to attend a home in the 600 block of Crucil Road at the request of Langley RCMP regarding a complaint of threats allegedly uttered on a social networking site.
Officers met with Kirkham and his father and spoke to him for approximately 20 minutes inside the home, when Kirkham somehow got hold of a claw hammer and advanced towards the officers holding the hammer above his head. One of the officers discharged his sidearm, striking Kirkham twice.
Cockfield said Kirkham also pled guilty to a charge of uttering threats and a charge of possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace for an incident on May 8 of this year when RCMP were called to a Gibsons home after Kirkham was involved in a dispute with a family member.
During that incident, the family member was able to get out of the home and called RCMP, who surrounded the home and, after two hours, Kirkham finally surrendered to police and was arrested.
Cockfield said Kirkham was given a 17-day jail sentence, but was given credit for 16 days already served in custody and a one-year probation order with numerous conditions, including a psychiatric assessment and to check in regularly with a bail supervisor.
