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Man carried knife into bar

BY KEITH LACEY klacey@northernlife.
BY KEITH LACEY

A young man with no previous criminal record was prohibited from owning or possessing any knife, firearm or other dangerous weapon for five years after being found guilty last week of carrying a knife into a downtown bar.

Phillip Savignac, 20, was found guilty of possessing a knife, but not guilty of assault with a weapon following a full-day trial at the Sudbury Courthouse. Savignac was accused of exposing a knife to a bouncer following an incident 10 months ago.

Justice William Fitzgerald ruled he believed Savignac did indeed carry a knife that evening, but found him not
guilty of assaulting the bouncer, who admitted he forcefully removed Savignac after observing the knife in his hand.

Fitzgerald gave Savignac the opportunity to avoid a criminal record by granting a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation. If Savignac stays out of trouble for the next year, he will not have any criminal record.

Fitzgerald ruled he believed the testimony of the first bouncer who got into a dispute with Savignac after closing time Feb. 15.

Savignac testified he has never owned a knife and did not pull or expose one after getting into a verbal confrontation with one bouncer, who Savignac believed was making a pass at his teenage girlfriend.

?I?ve never seen that knife before?that?s the first time,? said Savignac, when the alleged weapon was produced for the court.

Savignac admitted he uttered a verbal insult at the bouncer, but never exposed a knife and was physically assaulted by the bouncer.

The bouncer admitted he grabbed Savignac violently and moved him outside the bar after the 20-year-old flashed a knife at him after he told Savignac?s girlfriend and other customers it was time to leave as it was almost 2:45 am.

Savignac admitted he was drunk and called the bouncer ?a fag?, which resulted in the bouncer grabbing him with both hands around the neck and throwing him violently against an outside door.

The impact of being thrown into the door knocked him unconscious and he didn?t remember talking to police officers who arrived within minutes and placed him under arrest, said Savignac.

A second bouncer testified he saw his co-worker and Savignac get into a verbal and then physical dispute and he tried to assist his fellow bouncer when he also saw a small black knife in Savignac?s hand. After the other bouncer threw Savignac outside, he tried to dislodge the knife from Savignac?s hand by stepping on his forearm with
extreme force, he said.

Savignac originally wouldn?t drop the knife, but finally did when he applied sufficient force, he said.

Savignac?s girlfriend gave the same version of events as her boyfriend, stating she has never known him to carry a
knife and she never saw him pull one out or brandish a knife at any time.