The man who threatened Health Minister John Haggie at his home this past December has been given a conditional discharge.

65-year-old Jeffery Follett was charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in connection with the incident on December 7th.

Follett went to Haggie’s Gander home just after 6 p.m. to convey his displeasure with COVID-19 mask rules, yelling and threatening the minister, who is also the MHA for the area.

The man was arrested at his own home a short time later without incident.

In Gander court yesterday, Follett, who had no previous criminal record, was given a conditional discharge and six months’ probation.

He said he was sorry, and agreed his actions amounted to a momentary lapse of judgment, with Judge Mark Linehan making note of the “highly charged” emotional, philosophical and political discourse in the midst of the pandemic.

But he said that didn’t excuse Follett’s actions.

Linehan said there are ways to express discontent with government policy, but this isn’t one of them, adding next time Follett might be better served putting pen to paper.