(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

LANGUAGE ADVISORY

KELOWNA - The Kelowna man who was arrested for making an online threat to Mayor Colin Basran won't be facing any charges.

"The B.C. Prosecution Service can confirm that charges have not been approved in the case you referred to. After a full and careful review of all the evidence gathered by the investigative agency the reviewing Crown was unable to conclude that the charge assessment standard had been met and no charge was approved," said Dan McLaughlin, communications counsel for the B.C. Prosecution Service.

In his email, McLaughlin said in determining whether a prosecution will be initiated, Crown Counsel must independently, objectively, and fairly measure all the available evidence against a two-part test:

1. whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction; and, if so,
2. whether the public interest requires a prosecution.

A substantial likelihood of conviction exists where Crown Counsel is satisfied there is a strong, solid case of substance to present to the Court. To reach this conclusion, a prosecutor will consider whether the evidence gathered by the investigating agency is likely to be admissible and available in court; the objective reliability of the admissible evidence; and whether there are viable defences or other legal or constitutional impediments to the prosecution, that remove any substantial likelihood of a conviction.

The 52-year-old Kelowna man was picked up by Kelowna RCMP earlier this month and later released on strict conditions after a death threat was made to Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran online.

The comment was made on a Facebook post created by iNFOnews Kelowna on a story about a development Basran brought back after it was voted down at a public hearing. It said, "Put a bullet in this fucktard". It was soon deleted.

Mayor Colin Basran responded by saying that the comment had brought him to tears.

“When you put your name forward and are selected to serve the people of your community, you expect some criticism. But the post above goes beyond anything I would have ever expected," he said.

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