Ontario man gets house arrest for throwing gravel at Justin Trudeau

An Ontario man who pleaded guilty to throwing gravel at the prime minister two years ago learned his fate Monday in a London, Ont., courtroom.

Shane Marshall, 26., from St. Thomas, pleaded guilty to common assault in March in connection with the Sept. 2021 incident.

On Monday, he received a 90 day conditional sentence and one year of probation.

The sentence includes 90 days of house arrest and allows for Marshall to leave his residence under limited circumstances such as medical appointments.

During the probationary period, he will have to complete 80 hours of community service.

He has also been barred from being within 100 metres of Trudeau or from communicating with him. As part of the ruling, he is required to provide a DNA sample to be kept on file and was handed a victim fine surcharge of $100.

“Our society not only condones but encourages peaceful protest,” Justice Kevin G. McHugh said Monday.

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“(But) what Mr. Marshall did was to stifle discussion and discourage political volunteerism for fear of intimidation or physical violence.”

McHugh also noted that while no one was hurt, there was the potential for injuries.

“This was not an expression of political beliefs, it was a manifestation of mob mentality,” he said.

Last week, Marshall’s defence lawyer, Luke Reidy of Millars Law, told the provincial court that Marshall let his anger management issues get the best of him in relation to the incident, which occurred on Sept. 6, 2021, as Trudeau was leaving a stop at London Brewing Co-op during the 2021 election campaign.

Meanwhile, the Crown pushed that Marshall’s action were not just an assault on a political candidate, but an assault on democracy.

The Crown was seeking a sentence of 30 days in custody, asking that be followed by a 12-month probation period with directed counselling for the accused. Additionally, the Crown requested that Marshall have no communication with the prime minister and keep at least 20 metres away from any known residence.

The Crown was also seeking a DNA order.

The defence pushed for a one-year suspended sentence with the hopes of allowing Marshall to “attend counselling for impulse control and anger management,” according to his lawyer.

Reidy said that the defence also requested that the court impose community service hours to “help normalize Mr. Marshall back into society.”

Alternatively, the defence also requested a community sentence order in the term of 60 days.

Marshall pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault in March 2023.

Following last week’s initial sentencing hearing, Marshall “apologized to everyone.”

“I would like to apologize for my actions. It was not my intention to cause a scene or hurt anybody.”

With files from the Canadian Press.