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No appeals: Whitbread’s five-year manslaughter sentence stands

A Flin Flon man who received five years in prison for taking a perceived intruder’s life with a sword has chosen not to appeal his sentence. Mitchell Whitbread, 28, had until this week to appeal.

A Flin Flon man who received five years in prison for taking a perceived intruder’s life with a sword has chosen not to appeal his sentence.

Mitchell Whitbread, 28, had until this week to appeal. Neither he nor the Crown prosecutor opted to do so, meaning the sentence stands.

“We are not going to be appealing. We are going to rely on the parole court to do the right thing,” defence lawyer Greg Brodsky told The Reminder.

Crown prosecutor Brian Wilford had no further comment on the case other than what is already on the court record.

Whitbread was found guilty of manslaughter in the May 12, 2012 death of John (Kelli) Eyres, 31, also of Flin Flon.

His sentence – more lenient than what the Crown prosecutor sought – came down last month, capping off tense proceedings that saw the prosecution and defence wrangle over Whitbread’s claim of self-defence.

Whitbread initially faced the more serious charge of second-degree murder, which denotes intent to kill. He pleaded not guilty and was found guilty of manslaughter, which denotes no intent to kill, following a jury trial in The Pas.

He will serve his sentence at an undisclosed federal prison. In addition to jail time, he received a lifetime prohibition on owning weapons and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.

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