A Scotch Creek man who skipped two different trials, including running out of the Penticton courthouse while sheriffs were distracted, will spend another two weeks in jail. 

Matthew Deuwan Gilmore, 43, was the subject of warrants twice as a result of failing to appear for a trial date; first in April of 2024 and the second on Feb. 5, 2025. 

Gilmore appeared in Penticton Provincial Court via video from the Okanagan Correctional Centre where he has been held in custody since being arrested in Kamloops on March 3 and pleaded guilty to several charges he was to face at trial, as well as for the charge of failing to appear in court. 

The charges he pleaded guilty to were possession of stolen property, obstruction of a police officer and flight from police. 

In January of 2022, the RCMP were called after someone spotted a truck without any license plates heading up the 201 Forest Service Road outside Okanagan Falls with a dirt bike in the back. 

The truck's destination was an encampment known to police that was previously the location of stolen goods. 

Multiple officers, including the local police service dog handler, responded, driving up the snowy and icy road to the camp. 

Once they arrived, they found the reported truck, although it had a plate that was unattached and did not match the truck. The truck was later determined to have been stolen from Chase.

An officer got out, and after approaching the vehicle, asked the driver, later identified as Gilmore, to get out. Gilmore refused, revved the engine, and attempted to speed off while the officer almost slipped into its path. 

Gilmore only made it about 20 feet before the truck got stuck, and following a brief struggle, was taken into custody. 

After being released, Gilmore skipped out on his April 2024 trial, with a warrant issued for his arrest. He was then taken into custody and later sentenced in August of 2024 for the failure to appear charge from skipping his first trial. 

Gilmore was then released again, and on the second trial date, showed up late after the witnesses had already been excused. 

While the court was stood down to decide whether the judge would hear the Crown's request for bail revocation or if it should go to the bail hub, sheriffs escorted Gilmore out of the courtroom. 

When the sheriff stopped to speak with a supervisor, Gilmore bolted and sprinted out the backdoor to the courtroom. 

He was not taken back into custody until March 3, when Tk'emlups Rural RCMP arrested him while following reports of a suspicious vehicle. 

That truck was also found to have been stolen from Chase but is not believed to be related to Gilmore. 

While no evidence was entered as to whether Gilmore was under the influence at the time of the original offence, it was put before the court and accepted by Judge Greg Koturbash that his addiction issues likely played a role in his actions, as he had a very light criminal record. 

Gilmore's defence lawyer, Rory Neary, noted that Gilmore had begun consuming alcohol and cocaine 15 years ago, but had been gone through treatment and was sober for several years before his father became ill in 2019, at which point Gilmore had to quit his job and move to assist his mother in providing care.

During that time, he returned to consuming alcohol. His father died of his illness in 2023, followed by his uncle whom he was also close to in that year, and in 2024 he lost his home to a wildfire. 

Judge Koturbash noted that the deaths and the fire did serve as a degree of a mitigating factor for the failure to appear, but said he would not consider them with regard to the main offence. 

Crown and defence provided a joint submission of 79 days real-time served for the main offence, but differed on the failure to appear charge with the prosecution seeking up to 21 days jail and the defence seeking a concurrent sentence that would see Gilmore released immediately. 

Koturbash stated he disagreed with the joint submission, finding it an inadequate sentence, particularly for the danger Gilmore's actions had put the officer in, but that he did not have enough grounds to reject it. 

"You can tell from my comments that, if it were not a joint submission, I probably would have imposed a much harsher sentence on you for your actions on this particular date because I think it is critically important to protect and support police officers when the crimes are like this," said Koturbash. 

For the charge of failing to appear, with it being his second offence, Judge Koturbash sentenced Gilmore to spend another 14 days in jail. 

"About 15 years ago, the estimate was that it cost about $3,000 per hour to run a courtroom and failing to appear twice when time has been set aside, courts are backlogged, people are waiting to have their day in court, and then simply not showing up on more than one occasion is as the Crown pointed out particularly aggravating," said Koturbash. 

After his release, Gilmore will also have to pay a $400 victim crime surcharge within six months.