The owner of a hair salon in Nanaimo was recently handed a conditional discharge for firing several rounds from a rifle during a break and enter at her business last winter.
The incident happened in November. Police responded to a glass-breakage alarm at the salon just after 3 a.m. and found the front door smashed, a woman inside, bullet casings on the floor and several bullet holes in the interior walls.
The woman, 54, identified as the salon owner, told police suspects broke in and she fired a rifle in self-defence.
No one was injured.
The woman was charged with careless use of a firearm and on July 3 in Nanaimo provincial court, she received a conditional discharge and a two-year probation order.
Conditions of the probation include keeping the peace, reporting to a probation officer, not possessing firearms and counselling. The woman also had to forfeit the rifle used.
A discharge is when an individual is found guilty of an offence, but is not deemed to have been convicted. In the case of a conditional discharge, the individual is on probation and if conditions are obeyed until the end of probation, the individual will not have a criminal record.