Man Who Shot Himself Nets 4.5 year Jail Sentence
A man facing multiple firearms allegations in relation to shooting himself at a Brooks bar entered guilty pleas and receiving a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence Thursday at Medicine Hat Court of Justice.
Yohannes Afewor Tekesti, 47, was handling a double-barrelled sawed-off shotgun inside the Blue Nile Shisha Bar just after 1 am on Aug. 24, 2023, showing the firearm to another individual when it was accidentally discharged.
Tekesti suffered a serious leg injury requiring him to be airlifted to Calgary.
A subsequent investigation located the shotgun in the trunk of a car along with meth and cocaine. Drug charges initially laid against Tekesti were withdrawn following the man’s guilty plea.
Tekesti was under a conditional sentence order at the time requiring him not to possess firearms at the time of the incident in relation to conviction for possession of stolen property under $5,000.
Defence lawyer David Nguyen told the court his client has had a difficult past having been unwillingly drafted into military service as a teen to fight in military conflicts involving Tekesti’s native country Eritrea.
The man had fled the north African country via Sudan, Libya and Malta before coming to Canada as part of a resettlement program.
He also stated the Crown’s case had possible Charter and constitutional challenges relating to police search warrants and their access of Tekesti’s medical records.
Nguyen told the court one of the mitigating factors is that Tekesti currently walks with a cane due to the self-inflected injury, “and will likely be forever hampered by this medical condition.”
Other mitigating factors include the ramifications to his client’s immigration status and the firearm wasn’t intended to be used against any other person.
Given credit for time served since Tekesti’s November 2023 arrest, he has a little less than three years left on his penitentiary sentence.
He will also be subject to a 20-year restricted weapon ban and a lifetime prohibited weapon restriction.