'Pipe bomb' leads to jail

A man who took a "pipe bomb" near his young son and his ex-partner has been ordered to spend a month behind bars.

Maxwell Erhardt Buchanan, 29, was sentenced Tuesday in Vernon provincial court after pleading guilty to charges of possession of an explosive substance and breach of release order, both stemming from an incident in August of 2023.

Court heard Buchanan found a duffel bag containing what was described as a "possible pipe bomb."

On Aug 19, 2023, Buchanan’s ex partner was with their son and was surprised to run into her ex near her apartment. She invited him to join them shopping so he could spend time with his son and offered to let Buchanan leave his heavy bag in her apartment.

Buchanan declined his ex’s offer, saying if he left the bag in her house it might set it on fire. That comment prompted the woman to contact police.

Provincial court Judge David Patterson said Buchanan was fully aware the device in the bag was incendiary, whether or not he was responsible for it being there.

“Instead of calling 911 or taking some other action, such as leaving where it was and trying to get a hold of the police, he elected to pick it up and walked to the residence of his former intimate partner and their son, and walked down the street with them, holding this bag — which at the very least he felt could cause a fire,” the judge said in court.

The incident happened while Buchanan was on bail for another matter and prohibited from possessing weapons, including incendiary devices.

Court heard an expert later found the incendiary device would not have damaged property but could have injured a person.

Patterson sentenced Buchanan to 30 days in jail. Once given credit for time served, he had one day remaining on his sentence on Tuesday.

Buchanan was also sentenced to 12 months of probation and prohibited from possessing weapons for five years.