Prison escapee in Welland court

One of the prisoners involved in a brazen prison break in Quebec that used a hijacked helicopter was in a Welland courtroom Tuesday. He was up on unrelated gun charges.

Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau is a career criminal who boasts about having connections to the Hell’s Angels.

In March of last year, Barbeau and another inmate at the St. Jerome Detention Centre escaped by climbing up cables to a hovering helicopter hijacked at gunpoint. Police were fired upon when they gave chase. The inmates were captured days later.

This morning, Hudon-Barbeau made an appearance in a Welland courtroom with his girlfriend Luana Larose. The pair are facing stolen credit card and gun charges laid in Niagara Falls just months before the prison break.

The credit card incident happened in August 2012. Hudon-Barbeau and Larose were staying at a Niagara Falls hotel. They stayed beyond check out time. When cleaning staff entered the room, they found a loaded 38 calibre revolver.

There are guns in the hands of criminals — many other guns in the possession of law abiding citizens.

Niagara police Staff Sgt. Shawn Clarkson: “People have apprehensions about bringing in guns for fear of charges–or fear of repercussions from the police department.”

That’s why this past week Niagara police held a gun amnesty. Over four days, people turned in 169 firearms, including 38 handguns and more than nine thousand rounds of ammunition. Police were surprised by the number of handguns. Often, the owners have had them for years.

Staff Sgt. Clarkson: “They don’t want them anymore. But they don’t know what to do with them. In this case, we’ll take care of that for them, and there’s no chance for them to get into the wrong hands.”

All of the weapons turned in will be examined. If any have historical significance, they’ll be donated to a museum. All the rest will be destroyed.