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This article was published 28/8/2018 (758 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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A military man was handed a six-month conditional discharge on Monday after he refused to co-operate with a conservation officer evicting him from a campsite after a loud night of partying.

"It goes to show the seriousness of which we take these types of things," Crown attorney Brett Rach told the Brandon provincial court. "Conservation officers are peace officers and they’re due the exact same amount of respect that RCMP officers are."

Matthew Leonard Murray, a 26-year-old military member stationed at CFB Shilo, pleaded guilty to resisting a peace officer.

On June 9, RCMP were called to Kiche Manitou Campground in Spruce Woods Provincial Park for assistance in evicting a group of campers after one individual refused to co-operate with conservative officers and resisted arrest, Rach said.

A group of campers were playing loud music and speaking loudly during quiet hours, Rach said, and refused to co-operate with park patrol who gave them several warnings throughout the night.

On their final warning, park patrol said they spoke with Murray, who was a permit holder of one of the campsites.

They advised him he could face a fine for not complying with the conditions of the permit. However, they were willing to give him a written warning if they co-operated and kept it down, Rach said.

However, Murray refused to give the park patrol his identification, Rach said, so they were therefore unable to do the written warning.

Park patrol decided to deal with the group in the morning when a conservation officer was present, Rach said, and they returned the next day to evict the campers.

The majority of the group was co-operative, but Murray still refused to provide his identification, Rach said.

The conservation officer verbally placed Murray under arrest and took him by the arm in an attempt to handcuff him, Rach said. Murray started tensing up and pulled away, refusing to let the conservation officer complete the arrest.

Concerned about his own safety, the conservation officer called RCMP, at which point Murray complied with officers, Rach said.

"It’s fine to have a good time, but that can’t go far beyond and if he’s being told to do something, it’s required that he comply, particularly when police get involved," Rach said.

Defence lawyer Rhea Majewski said Murray was the permit holder for the adjacent campsite to where the noise was coming from and therefore didn’t believe he had any responsibility in that matter.

Murray also didn’t understand or recall being advised they were trying to write a ticket, Majewski said, and so he didn’t give them his identification because he didn’t know why they were asking for it.

He asked numerous times to speak with RCMP officers to get more of an understanding of what was going on, Majewski added, and was compliant once RCMP arrived.

"It’s unfortunate that just a little bit more co-operation on your part probably would have resulted in this matter going away and you not being here today," Judge John Combs said.

Due to Murray’s clean record, Combs agreed to give him the opportunity to earn a clean record with a six-month conditional discharge, in addition to 15 hours of community service.

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