Fisherman who made 's--t down your neck' threat given conditional discharge

Fisherman Wayne Meade lost his temper and crossed a line, but will not serve jail time for threats uttered at employees ofthe Fish, Food and Allied Workers union.

Meade, who's from Grand Bank, made comments to Dwan Street and Roland Heddersonduring a heated meeting with fish harvesters Nov. 1, 2016, in Fortune.

• Charges pending against FISH-NL supporter for alleged threats at FFAW meeting
• Fish harvester won't apologize for comments to FFAW staff, says he was provoked

He pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to charges of two counts of uttering threats and was granted a conditional dischargeand placed on probation for 12 months.

According to Street, Meadehad approached the table sheand Hedderson were sitting at, pounded the table and put one leg up on it.

She said he then threatened the duo by saying, "'I'll rip off your head and shit down your neck.'"

At the time, Meade was a vocal supporter of FISH-NL, the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador.

FISH-NLleader Ryan Clearysaid Meade's comments did not represent the union.

In a later interview with CBC, Meadesaid he should have chosen better words, but did not apologize.

FISH FIGHT

8 years ago

Duration 3:46

Key FISH-NL organizer threatened 'bloodshed' at union meeting, says FFAW employee.

He insisted his words were not meant as a literal threat.

"You tell afellayou're going to knock his head off and shit down his neck, that's a figure of speech," he said in November. "If I wanted to knock his head off I'd have no trouble doing it. I don't know about shitting down his neck."

The FFAW responded to the verdict on Tuesday, with president Keith Sullivan saying the union takes all threats very seriously.

"We are pleased that the individual in question took responsibility for his actions in the court of law by pleading guilty to two charges," he said.

A conditional discharge means no conviction has been entered in Meade's case.The discharge will remain on his record for three years after he has served his probation.