News TheReview Wednesday, April 17,1991 — A17

Record house sales in March

«Woman convicted after bar confrontation

Slapping a bar bouncer, pun-
ching and kicking a police officer
and yelling obscenities after last
call early one Sunday morning
resulted in convictions of assault
and causing a disturbance for a
former Sidney woman.

In Sidney provincial court April
4, Linda Sheryl Pratt, 30, who
recently moved to Victoria,
pleaded guilty to assaulting the
bouncer.

She was also found guilty by
Judge Bran MacKenzie, following
a trial, of assaulting the policeman
and causing a disturbance by
shouting and using obscene lan-
guage.

MacKenzie gave her a sus-
pended sentence and placed her on
nine-months probation, during
which she is prohibited from going:
to Images Cabaret in Sidney.

“Tt was a most unfortunate even-
ing for you,” the judge told Pratt, a
mother of two who had worked at
the Saanich Peninsula Hospital for
three years and is now enrolled in
a dental hygiene course.

He said he accepted the evi-
dence of Cst. Chris Caldwell of the
Sidney RCMP. who ‘testified he
was assaulted without provocation.

He also ruled Pratt caused a
disturbance at Images just after 2
a.m. on Oct. 14.

A female bartender testified she
intervened in a confrontation
between Pratt and bar doorman
Greg Chamberlain. She said she
tried to escort Pratt outside the bar,
but once outside, Pratt had man-
aged to grab her by the hair:

$400 fine for
impaired driving

A 29-year-old Sidney man who
flipped a vehicle he was driving
into a ditch and was later found by
police walking along McDonald
Park Road was fined $400 in
Sidney court on Apmil 4.

Vernon Lyons changed his plea
to guilty on a charge of having care
and control of a vehicle while over
08.

In addition to the fine, Judge
Brian MacKenzie prohibited
Lyons from driving for one year.

The charge stems from an Oct.
28 accident. At 6:13 a.m., Sidney
RCMP received a call that two
men were walking along McDon-
ald away from the scene of an
accident, Crown counsel Edward
Ormheim told the court.

Police noticed Lyons and
another man were intoxicated and
had blood and mud on their cloth-
ing. The two said they were run off

the road by a pick-up truck.

The other man mentioned Lyons”

was driving at the time.

Lyons was taken to the Central
Saanich police department for a
breathalyser test, and readings of
.19 and .20 were recorded.

“The accused was talking a lot,
saying, ‘Drinking and driving is
dumb. I can’t believe I did that,’ ~
said Ormheim.

Defence counsel Tom Irwin said
Lyons “recognizes this was a fool-
ish thing to do.”

THIS IS ONE TEST YOU
WON'T WANT TO BLOW

A roadside screening device
could be in the hands of

any police officer, any time,
anywhere in the province.

Chamberlain said the bartender
intervened after Pratt had slapped
him twice and poured beer on him.

He said he saw Pratt holding a
drink and talking to someone out-
side the bar just after 2 a.m.
closing time.

He said he took the drink out of
Pratt’s hand, at which point she
became upset, yelling and swear-
ing at him. She had a glass of beer
in her other hand, and made a
motion to dump it on his head, he
said, but he was able to deflect the
glass away without getting its
entire contents spilled on him.

Pratt slapped him across the
face once, then he told her to leave,
and she slapped him again, Cham-
berlain said.

Cst. Caldwell, who was sitting
in a police car at the parking lot,
saw the scuffle between the bar-
tender and Pratt, and told Pratt to
settle down.

When she didn’t, he arrested her
and tried to place her in a police
car with the help of another offi-
cer, he said.

He said she began to flail her
arms around, with a blow landing
on his mouth, and kicking her legs.
He added he was kicked in the
abdomen.

“I basically spun around and
fell,” he said, but the officers were
able to place her in the car and

take her into custody for the night.

Pratt testified she had only hada
beer and a half at another Sidney
bar before going to Images.

She said she went to Chamber-
lain to invite him to a party when
he used profanity.

She said he’d get “decked” if
he called her a profane name
again, and she followed through
when he called her the name.

She said a police officer was
escorting her to the car when she
felt someone hit her on the calf.
She turned around and hit the
man, not realizing he was another
officer, she said.

Pratt said while in the car, she
Struggled because her dress had
been pulled up, causing her to
inadvertently kick Caldwell.

“T swear to God I didn’t know I
kicked him,” she said.

Defence counsel Bruce Goddard
said the altercations arose because
Chamberlain had called his client
a profane name. Pratt did not
intend to cause a disturbance, he
said.

“She was defending herself and
her reputation.”

Crown counsel Edward Orm-
heim told the judge Pratt “has a
selective memory. ... Anything she
does which is the slightest bit
wrong, she has an explanation
for.”

More choices ai selection

It’s the time of year when
students at Stelly’s begin the tedi-
ous process of selecting courses
for the next semester.

But this time, along with the
courses offered every year, various
new classes are being considered
and may begin if student interest 1s
Strong enough.

Among the new courses is Rec-
teation Leadership, a locally
developed class in which students
will take over extra-curricular
activities and intramurals, working
out of regular class time for the
credit.

Another locally developed pro-
gram is being considered. But this
one is designed for Fine Arts
students and is called Dance “On
Stage.”

In it students will produce and
perform in a “multi-disciplinary
musical variety show.’ to be per-
formed at Stelly’s and on the road.

Other new classes may include

economics, business and office
management, choir and music
composition.

In other school news, teacher
and rugby coach Mark Wyatt
recently travelled with the Cana-
dian National Rugby Team to
Hong Kong and on to Wales and
Scotland.

Wyatt played well with the Bar-
barians, an elite, multi-national
team he was invited to join, scor-
ing two tries in one game.

Wyatt said the tour “was good
fun” and that it definitely was “an
honor’ to play with the Barbari-
ans.

And, Grade 11 and 12 timeta-
bling will be done by individual
students this year. The process of
“Arena Loading,” will begin June
10th and will be used to sign up
for classes.

Administrators said each depart-
ment will be taking only a set
number of students in classes as
the new contract achieved dunng
the strike allows them to do so.

The Spring and final dance of
the year will be held on April
25th. Tickets will be available
soon.

Grade 11 French Immersion stu-
dent Neala Gillingham travelled to
Montreal over Spring Break with
the Cowichan Valley Junior Figure
Skating Precision Team, to com-
pete in the Canadian Nationals.

The team placed fourth in West-
em Canada and eleventh in Can-
ada.

Gillingham said she had an
“awesome time,’ and that she
hopes the team does even better
next year.

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MINI HOLIDAYS «

$140.00/Person Dbl. Oce.

The number of Multiple Listing
Service (MLS) transactions in
March broke a sales record,
according to the Victoria Real
Estate Board.

The totals were 959 sales total-
ling $152 million, compared to
647 for February and 697 for
March last year.

The previous record for MLS
sales was November, 1989, with
892.

Lower interest rates is one cause
of the flurry of activity, says board
president Donna Curtis. As well,
she says people were waiting until
the impact of the Gulf War and the
GST were known.

The board says 26 transactions
in Sidney totalled $3.9 million,
with a median price of $147,000.

In Central Saanich, 38 sales
were recorded, valued at $7.2 mil-
lion, for a median price of
$170,000, according to board fig-

ures.

And for North Saanich, there
were 20 transactions at $5 million,
for a $209,000 median.

DEBORAH GRAY

Product knowledge is
achieved through hard work
and experience. Buying or sel-
ling real estate requires skill
and patience. With my sup-
port and guidance I can make
this an enjoyable experience
for you.

Call DEBORAH GRAY
NRS PENINSULA PROP.

652-5171

COUVELIER LISTENS

Tuesday, April 23rd

SAANICH N. & THE ISLANDS

WATCH CABLE 11

7:00 p.m.
Your opportunity to
ask questions or
offer your opinions to

Mel Couvelier MLA

ANNUAL

SAANICH/GULF ISLANDS CONSTITUANCY
Reform Party of Canada

MEETING

Sunday, May 5th, 1991
3:00 p.m. (doors open 2:00p.m.)

Keating Elementary School
(Central Saanich Road & Keating X Rd.)

ELECTION OF OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

GENERAL

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I

\

SAANICH PENINSULA
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

GENERAL MEETING

1:7 Thursday, April 18th, 12 noon
Guest Speaker
BENNETT BROWN, Port Sidney Marina
Images, Airport Travelodge
Tickets $8.50 ea. GST included
Call 656-3616 to eens

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