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When 41-year-old Blake Tyler Dunstall was arrested at gunpoint in the spring of 2023 he had a bayonet, a knife, two machetes and a couple of cans of bear spray in his vehicle along with 42 grams of meth.

He also has more than 100 criminal convictions.

Dunstall appeared by video from custody at the Penticton courthouse, March 5, and added a conviction of possession for the purpose of trafficking to his lengthy list. The court noted this was the first time he'd been convicted of drug dealing.

Two years ago, in March 2023, Dunstall had been spotted in a Mazda driving to a known drug house in Keremeos. It wasn't his vehicle, but registered to a person who like Dunstall was banned from driving. Police had clocked him visiting the drug house a couple of times over a day or two.

Dunstall has been banned from driving for life, so as the police saw him driving they tried to pull him over. He sped off, and officers didn't follow him.

Police parked near the drug house and 15 minutes later, the Mounties noticed the Mazda nearby driving down 3 Avenue. Police followed Dunstall and blocked him in on the dead-end street. They turned their lights and sirens on, but Dunstall attempted to flee.

Throwing his car into a U-turn, Dunstall then drove down a steep embankment on someone's property and ultimately ended up lodging the car on a tree stump.

At the time of the incident, the RCMP put out a media release saying Dunstall had rammed into the police cruiser.

However, lawyers on both sides painted a different picture.

Federal Crown prosecutor Michelle Reinhart said photos showed that the damage to the police cruiser wasn't "particularly significant" while defence lawyer Ray Enright said the Mazda "jerked forward and bumped" into the police cruiser as Dunstall tried to get it in gear. The collision left the Mazda with a bent licence plate.

Police put forward a photo of a dent in the large bumper on the front of the cruiser, but BC Provincial Court Judge Shannon Keyes wasn't convinced.

"Doesn't look like it could have been done by a license plate," the judge said.

With the Mazda stuck on a tree stump the Mountie pointed his gun at the vehicle and told Dunstall he was under arrest and to show his hands.

READ MORE: Homeless Kelowna man with 95 convictions released back onto streets

He shouted back that he "didn't want to die tonight" but didn't lift up his hands. His female passenger, whose name wasn't mentioned in court, put her hands up.

Dunstall eventually complied and was arrested.

He was charged with a slew of offences from dangerous driving and resisting arrest to drug trafficking and breaching his probation.

Dunstall spent five months in prison before being granted bail but was back behind bars a few months later for breaching his conditions.

In the two years since he was caught with the meth he's been in and out of custody, sometimes released on bail, and other times behind bars for different crimes he'd committed. In August last year, he was jailed for a week for a domestic assault which was later dropped.

His lengthy criminal record includes multiple cases of domestic violence, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, dangerous driving, resisting arrest, break and enter and "many many" breaches of his probation.

In a joint submission to the court, lawyers asked for a jail sentence of 22 months, which with credit for time already served meant Dunstall would be released.

The court heard how the 41-year-old was raised by a single mother who struggled with substance abuse and had rejected her Indigenous ancestry.

"Over the last couple of years he's made... an effort at finding more about his ancestral history," his lawyer said.

He has ADHD and began using illicit substances as a teenager. Over the years he'd suffered numerous head injuries from encounters living on the streets and had a brain injury.

He'd had his finger cut off to steal his ring and was hospitalized after being attacked with a baseball bat a couple of years ago.

He had done little work in his life but in custody had taken every course available to him.

READ MORE: Former Rotary Club president pleads guilty to attacking wife in Keremeos home

"He advises me at the age that he's currently at, he appreciates that he needs to make some changes in his lifestyle," Enright said.

The court heard how he'd been clean and sober for two years and planned to live with his girlfriend, who is a support worker in Kamloops, when released.

"He's hoping to open up a business... woodworking, building furniture, and potentially log structures," his lawyer said. "He's looking ahead and trying to find out how to become self-sufficient."

In accepting the joint submission and releasing Dunstall back into the community, Judge Keyes said she remembered last time she sentenced him he had said much the same thing.

"We all need to have occupations and if can make one for himself... that might be good," the judge said. "I wish him well at it."

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