A Queen’s Bench judge handed down an eight-year prison sentence to Mike Arcand, the man at the centre of a police shootout in downtown Saskatoon in 2017.
The courts found Arcand, 35, guilty of assault with a weapon but he was found not guilty of attempted murder.
The Crown asked for a 10-year sentence while the defence argued for a sentence between six and seven years.
Today, Justice Jeff Kalmakoff sentenced Arcand to eight years, giving him two-year’s credit for time served in remand, bringing Arcand’s sentence down to six years.
Crown prosecutor Todd Wellsch told reporters outside Court of Queen's Bench he agreed with the judge's reasons in the decision and Wellsch said he believes the fact that Arcand had a homemade gun was considered an aggravating factor in sentencing.
"(The gun) could've caused a lot more damage than what was the end result and that was reflected in his judgement," Wellsch said.
At the heart of the trial were a series of videos captured by bystanders and police dash-cam footage.
The video shows Saskatoon police telling Arcand numerous times to put down his weapon, a homemade firearm, that Arcand fired during the standoff.
Police testified during the trial that they were giving Arcand plenty of opportunities to stand down. They used Tasers and bean bag rounds on Arcand during the incident.
Arcand suffered a bullet wound and dog bites when he was finally taken down near the Radisson hotel.
Wellsch said he believes the judge may have landed on an eight-year sentence in light of police officers being present and Arcand putting those officers' lives in danger.
"In many cases the courts have recognized that sentencing needs to be more harsh when police officers are involved as being the victim and it wasn't just the police who were put in danger ... and that was fully recognized by the judge's ruling," Wellsch said.
