Man on trial for manslaughter arrested outside court on charges of breaching release orders
A man on trial for manslaughter ended up in jail today for reportedly breaching release orders by communicating with people he wasn’t supposed to contact.
Desmond Downey is accused of killing 71-year-old Douglas Hunt during an altercation on Wishingwell Road in St. John’s on March 3, 2022. The chief medical examiner determined Hunt died from a hit to the head, which caused a brain bleed.
Closing arguments in his manslaughter trial were supposed to be presented this morning at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s. However, it didn’t go ahead because Downey wasn’t there. Minutes before proceedings in his trial were to begin, he was arrested by Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers, who were reportedly waiting for him in front of the court house on Duckworth Street.
Downey, 56, was arrested on the manslaughter charge a year after Hunt’s death, but was never in custody in relation to it. At that time, he was ordered to adhere to police conditions.
In relation to his latest charges, according to court documents at provincial court, Downey faces one count of engaging in conduct with intent to provoke a state of fear in a justice system participant. He also faces three counts of breaching an undertaking by communicating with people he was not supposed to contact.
He’s due to appear in provincial court later today.
Lawyers, meanwhile, agreed to resume Downey’s manslaughter trial on Dec. 9.
NTV’s Rosie Mullaley will have more on the NTV Evening News.
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