{"id":33550,"date":"2023-08-01T23:25:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T02:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=33550"},"modified":"2023-08-11T11:35:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T14:35:49","slug":"i-will-never-see-him-again-mother-of-jamie-leard-addresses-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/i-will-never-see-him-again-mother-of-jamie-leard-addresses-court\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I will never see him again’: mother of Jamie Leard addresses court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A photo of Jamie Leard circulated on social media in May 2021. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was two years and two months after Jamie Leard was shot and killed by his former friends in Upper Cape, New Brunswick, that his mother Doris Leard had the chance to speak in court, and tell one of her son\u2019s killers about the impact of his actions on May 25, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI miss Jamie so much,\u201d Leard told the Moncton courtroom last week. \u201cHe is never coming home again. I will never see him again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leard said she called and texted Jamie almost daily, to see how he was, and tell him she loved him. \u201cNow I can\u2019t, and never will be able to again,\u201d said the grieving mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leard talked about a number of routines and rituals that are now lost to her forever, including dinners at her home with her son, annual visits to family in PEI, and Christmas and birthday celebrations. \u201cI will never have grandchildren,\u201d said Leard, \u201cas he was my only child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the overwhelming grief for the loss of her son, Leard expressed fear and discomfort in her own home. \u201cEvery time a car goes by. I get scared. I’m scared that they might get out and set my house on fire,\u201d Leard told the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leard was given time to read her victim impact statement on July 25, during a sentencing hearing for Sean Patterson, one of two men who has pled guilty to a role in Jamie Leard\u2019s death. Jamie\u2019s uncle Michael Winter also filed a victim impact statement with the court, but chose not to read it aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patterson is facing a joint recommendation for 14 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, minus three years and three months for time already served. Chief Justice Tracey DeWare won\u2019t hand down the actual sentence until September 7, due to misplaced briefs filed by the prosecution and defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two guilty pleas, two versions of events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Patterson pled guilty to second degree murder on April 14 of this year, and admitted to the court that he shot Jamie in the head upon his friend\u2019s arrival back at home on May 25, 2021. Patterson also said another individual shot Leard two to three more times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patterson\u2019s co-accused, Henry Pottie, was on trial for first degree murder for two weeks, on and off, before the Crown accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter<\/a>. According to his lawyer, Pottie insists that he did not actually shoot Leard, but that his behaviour \u201cassisted or encouraged the confrontation with Patterson, knowing it was a dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as the sentencing hearings progress, the discrepancy between the two men\u2019s stories remains unresolved, and no clear motive for the murder has been put forward. Crown prosecutor Maurice Blanchard told the court last week that the motive behind the violent crime is unclear. \u201cIt’s a bit hard to fathom why this happens,\u201d said Blanchard. \u201cThe driving force behind this seems to be drug addiction.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patterson\u2019s lawyer Daniel Gallant agreed, telling the court that Patterson had become addicted to crack cocaine at eighteen years of age, later using crystal meth. \u201cThe motive behind the second degree murder here, it remains unknown, and our position is that it will remain unknown,\u201d said Gallant. \u201cAnd that the driving force of this, as stated by my friend opposite, was the crystal meth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patterson will be back in court September 7 for a sentencing decision, and Henry Pottie will be back on September 15, also for sentencing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pottie pleads to manslaughter, discrepancy in agreed facts to be cleared up at sentencing<\/a><\/blockquote>