Photo: KTW file

Kamloops provincial court

A man who carried out an “insidious” stalking and harassment campaign against his ex-girlfriend has been ordered to spend 18 months in prison — and he will not be allowed to return to Kamloops when he gets out.

Michael Kevin Lavery Macdonald, 47, was sentenced Friday in Kamloops provincial court after earlier pleading guilty to charges of criminal harassment and mischief, as well as five counts of breaching a bail order.

He began to stalk and harass his ex in April of 2023 and the offending carried on until last summer.

The woman, who Castanet is not naming, first contacted police on March 31, 2024. She said her ex, Macdonald, had just shot out her window with a BB gun and he was parked outside her home threatening to kill her.

She told police they’d been broken up for a year and he had been harassing her on and off since then — showing up at her work, watching her, sending her menacing messages and threatening to harm himself.

Macdonald was arrested after police found him sitting in the driver’s seat of his car near the woman’s home.

‘You won’t get out of this'

Macdonald was released following a bail hearing the next day, with conditions requiring he have no contact with his ex and stay at least 200 metres away from her and her home.

Despite that, on April 20, 2024, he showed up outside her home and asked for help, saying he was out of gas. Her mother phoned police and Mounties arrived to find Macdonald again sitting in his car near her home.

A search of his vehicle turned up a homemade mace, which he had threatened via text message to “bury” in the back of the woman’s head.

Also inside the vehicle was a day planner, in which Macdonald had been keeping notes on the woman’s activities.

“It appeared to detail Mr. Macdonald’s continued observations of [her] and her activities,” Crown prosecutor Kelly Melnyk said in court.

Released again

Macdonald was again granted bail, this time on more stringent conditions. He was released from jail on May 6.

The woman said she saw him tailing her near her home on May 30, then on June 8 he texted her a photo of a vehicle parked outside her house.

On June 22, he left her a threatening voicemail: “Can you call me today please just so that we can speak for the last time here? If you choose not to, I will break my conditions very harshly. I would like to hear from you today.”

On July 17, the woman left work to find the tires on her vehicle had been slashed. While walking home, Macdonald began to follow her on foot.

“She continued walking but she could hear Mr. Macdonald running behind her and yelling something along the lines of how does it feel,” Melnyk said.

The woman went to police and left her phone with a constable, and Macdonald didn't stop. He left her a string of threatening messages the next day, while the phone was still with Mounties.

“All this hurt, all the pain this is causing me will be reciprocated back to you,” the message said. "You’re f---ed. You won’t get out of this now. You’re a f---ing statistic now and forever.”

Macdonald kept sending threatening messages to the phone while police worked to locate him.

“On July 18, 2024, as these afternoon texts are coming in to [the woman’s] cellphone, police were able to locate Mr. Macdonald in a parking lot on the campus of Thompson Rivers University,” Melnyk said.

Macdonald was denied bail and has been behind bars since then.

‘I always feel scared'

Melnyk asked for a two-year jail sentence, calling the circumstances of the harassment “insidious.”

A victim-impact statement written by the woman was filed in court. She said she is “no longer able to trust anyone,” even herself.

"I’m able to focus on my tasks, but work is very hard to do every day. When I am not working, all I am able to do is be at home,” she wrote.

"I just can’t seem to leave my house — I always feel scared."

In a pre-sentence report, Macdonald’s friends and family said they too are scared of him and worried about what he might do to them.

“There is concern from the Crown about the risk he poses,” she said.

"From the Crown’s perspective, the nature in which his family and estranged friends have expressed their understanding of his behaviour, the Crown submits that is indicative of the way he uses relationships and how he acts in relationships.”

Defence lawyer John Gustafson sought a sentence of 12 to 16 months in jail.

“The threats are certainly concerning, though I do note that he didn’t carry out any acts of violence other than shooting the window,” he said.

Gustafson also pointed out that Macdonald has no prior criminal record.

Banished from Kamloops

Macdonald was apologetic after Kamloops provincial court Judge Ray Phillips asked if he had anything to say.

“I apologize for my actions and behaviour,” Macdonald said. "I am sorry to those affected, and I am remorseful for how I conducted myself. I am very sorry.”

Phillips sentenced Macdonald to 18 months behind bars, to be followed by three years of probation.

“The harassing behaviour was prolonged, serious and in a threatening manner,” he said. "Those are very aggravating circumstances.”

Once he is given credit for time served, Macdonald will have 111 new days to spend behind bars.

He will have to find somewhere new to live when he gets out. Phillips went along with a request from Melnyk to banish Macdonald from Kamloops, meaning he won't be allowed within 20 kilometres of city limits while on probation unless en route to someplace else.

Macdonald was also ordered to submit a sample of his DNA to police for inclusion in a national criminal database and issued a 10-year firearms prohibition.