Two men set to appear in Penticton Provincial Court, on Wednesday, for unrelated reasons, both did not show and as a result, had warrants issued for their arrest.
Matthew Deuwan Gilmore and Nicholas Allan James were both scheduled to appear in court on April 3, but neither made an appearance. Gilmore was set to face trial for charges of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer, flight from police, possession of stolen property and dangerous operation of a vehicle, stemming from an incident in 2022.
The April 3 court appearance was the second time Gilmore was to face trial for the 2022 offences after he failed to show up for court on Jan. 31, 2023. However, during Wednesday91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s proceedings, a warrant was issued for Gilmore and he was able to get a last-chance bail order, new counsel, along with a reset trial date.
Nicholas Allan James on the other hand is facing charges of theft of mail, possession of stolen property, occupying a vehicle knowing there was a firearm present, possessing a firearm without a licence and possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm, stemming from an incident on Feb. 27, 2022.
According to an RCMP release at the time, officers had responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle, where individuals were allegedly breaking into community mailboxes in Keremeos.
As police were responding to this incident in 2022, officers were redirected to a collision involving the suspect vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene and one man was taken into custody.
The defence lawyer for James, on April 3, informed the courts that after initially being contacted about the trial, counsel had been unable to get instructions from the client, James. Defence made multiple attempts to reach the accused but was not successful.
A warrant was issued for James. When arrested he will be kept in custody until he appears in court.
