Osoyoos woman sentenced to house arrest for having a handgun without a permit

PENTICTON – An Osoyoos woman will serve a conditional sentence for possession of a weapon without a permit following a decision in Penticton court today.

Racheal Harder, 33, was given an eight month conditional sentence for having a .22 calibre handgun in her possession when police raided the house she was residing in on Sept.15, 2015.

Crown Prosecutor Vern Frolick told court today, Dec.1, Harder was arrested after police responded to a call about an assault on the Oliver property she was residing on, which contained a residence and a trailer.

When police arrived at the property, they recognized it as a drug house and conducted a search. The handgun was found in a locked safe in Harder’s bedroom. Harder claimed it was for her protection, but did not have a permit.

Frolick asked Judge Gale Sinclair to consider a four to six month jail sentence for the infraction.

Defence lawyer Robert Maxwell said his client was caught up in drugs and had been suffering from addictions for 15 years. He also noted his client had a college degree in counselling, had been clean for four years and had relapsed at the time of her arrest. She has been clean since the charge.

Maxwell said Harder had never used the gun, and had not brought it into the house, adding she had been living there with her boyfriend who was a known drug dealer.

He asked for a conditional sentence.

Judge Sinclair noted Harder's lack of a criminal record and her willingness to attend a drug rehabilitation program when sentencing her to eight months of house arrest.

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