No jail time for Ross

The man at the centre of last summer's riot on New Brunswick's Grand Manan Island won't be going to jail for threatening to kill his neighbours and to burn their home because he served his time before the trial.

Ronald Ross, 42, threatened Carter Foster and his girlfriend Sarah Wormell last July, three weeks before a riot in which Ross was beaten and his home burned to the ground during a confrontation with about 40 island residents.

Judge Bill Grant sentenced Ross to 4½ months on the charges, but gave him credit for the time served while awaiting trial on the charges, as well as a weapons charge. He was acquitted of the weapons count.

Ross was the focus of an angry confrontation last year with island residents who accused him of being a drug dealer — a claim he has consistently denied.

Ross says he shouldn't have threatened his neighbours but he was upset over the rumours, surveillance by police, and a number of acts of vandalism at his home.

Outside the courthouse today in St. Andrews, N.B., Ross said he is looking for a job as a fisherman, and would consider returning to Grand Manan after his 12 months of probation are over.