HALIFAX — A Cole Harbour man will have to wait a few more days before he finds out if he will be released on bail.
Christopher Phillips was back in a Dartmouth courtroom Friday, looking to be released pending his trial date. Phillips is facing two charges, one of uttering threats, the other of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. The weapon Phillips is alleged to of had was osmium tetroxide, a dangerous chemical.
READ MORE: Crown reviewing charges against man accused in Halifax chemicals case
Phillips took the stand Friday and testified at his own bail hearing. He told the court he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and has an income of $5,000 a month, money that is provided to him from a United States Navy disability cheque. Phillips testified he had the chemicals in his possession for a legitimate purpose.
“He was using some of them for the extraction of precious metals, specific metals for catalytic converters, and the idea is to do that and sell those products to earn a living,” Phillips lawyer, Mike Taylor told Global News following the court appearance.
Christopher Phillips wife, Gosia Phillips told the court she went to police on Jan. 19 to ask them to remove a chemical, osmium tetroxide, from a shed at a home in Cole Harbour, N.S., the couple were renovating. She testified Phillips told her he would get rid of the chemical, but didn’t and had left on vacation.
Gosia Phillips said at one point her husband had close to a million dollars worth of osmium tetroxide, but sold most of it. She said when police removed the chemical from their home in January, it was valued at approximately $50,000. She said they bought the Grand Desert cottage as a place to store chemicals.
Although the pair are now separated, Gosia Phillips is willing to act as a surety for her husband and put up $10,000 of her money to help him get released on bail. Despite this, the Crown Attorney is opposed to the idea of Phillips being released.
“The court still has to consider what the law provides for in determining whether or not any person who is under detention should be released,” said Roland Levesque.
The court also heard RCMP tried to contact Christopher Phillips via email when he was on route to Ottawa, but didn’t get a response. Police arrested Phillips at his hotel room, and found the words “you’re safe” written on a table in cut out letters.
RCMP Sgt. Lisa Stuart testified a contractor who was working at the Phillips’ home told police he noticed a PVC pipe on the property that looked like a pipe bomb. The pipe had a note on it that said “this is not a bomb.”
Officials now have a final list of chemicals that police found at the cottage at 95 Dyke Road in Grand Desert, N.S., but they aren’t making it public. The court heard some of the chemicals found are regular household items.
“You wouldn’t expect to find most of those chemicals in anyone’s private property but someone who’s a chemist and does the kind of experimentation and research that Mr.Phillips does and intended to do, would have some of those,” Taylor said.
A Judge will decide next Tuesday whether or not to release Christopher Phillips on bail.
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