Billy McGillicuddy of St. Croix was scheduled to stand trial on charges including assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon stemming from incidents that took place June 4 in McAdam, about 75 kilometers southwest of Fredericton. Instead, TJ Burke, McGillicuddy’s defense lawyer, informed Fredericton Provincial Court Judge Cameron Gunn that his client had decided to plead guilty to the charges. Gunn asked McGillicuddy if he understood that doing so would forfeit his right to a trial. McGillicuddy, who has been in custody since his arrest and appeared in court wearing plain clothes, said he did. The charges include two summary offenses of possession of a weapon, a baseball bat, with intent to commit an offense and assaulting Blake Scott with a baseball bat. The other two charges were offenses for assaulting Scott with a chair and unlawfully restraining him. The statement of facts was not shared in court Monday as Crown prosecutor Darlene Blundston was feeling unwell. Instead, it will be shared with a victim impact statement on November 14, when the sentence will be handed down. McGillicuddy’s supporters showed up outside the courthouse last summer wearing shirts with “#JUSTICEFORBILLY” emblazoned across the front. (Ed Hunter/CBC) Speaking later to CBC News, Burke said two other charges of possessing a sawn-off shotgun with intent to commit an offense and marking the sawn-off shotgun were reserved. He said he was working to have those two charges eventually dropped. McGillicuddy was denied bail after his arrest in June. He had originally elected to stand trial at the Court of King’s Bench on four of the charges, but changed his election to a judge-only trial in the county court in order to be tried earlier.
Vigilant justice
About a dozen McGillicuddy family members and supporters sat in court for Monday’s proceedings. His first appearance in June drew about 50 people, including McAdam Mayor Ken Stannix, who at the time said people in his village were frustrated by an increase in property crime. McAdam Mayor Ken Stannix was among supporters who appeared at McGillicuddy’s first court appearance in June. (Joe McDonald/CBC) “Criminals get away with everything,” he said. “I wanted to support the people who allegedly took the law into their own hands.” Those concerns led the RCMP to hold a town hall meeting in the village to let residents voice their complaints about crime and how police could improve their response. Stanix said in August that the encounter resulted in the RCMP starting nightly patrols in the village.
