Hand in hand with his wife, Donna, John MacKay left Surrey Provincial Court on Thursday with an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to theft.

MacKay was a member of the Public Safety Investigation Team formed to identify properties in the Township which showed signs of a marijuana grow-op.

The court heard that he was not the only PSIT member to steal, and MacKay said after the hearing that the charge against him was trumped up because he laid a harassment complaint.

The sentence leaves the Langley Township firefighter, who works as an inspector out of Hall 6, with no criminal record for stealing a battery, battery charger, halogen lamp and a hammer from a Louie Crescent outbuilding.

The tools were worth $120.

Crown prosecutor Richard Levenson summarized for Judge Jean Lytwyn, the “unusual facts” surrounding the charges against MacKay, 53.

Teamed with MacKay on the PSIT were two RCMP officers, an electrician, and a Township bylaw enforcement officer.

On April 15, 2008, the team was dispatched to a property in the 20800 block of Louie Crescent in North Langley. After the team had finished its search, the bylaw enforcement officer told the members to pack up their tools.

The BEO saw that MacKay had a battery-operated Skil saw which the officer knew was not part of his tool kit. MacKay was instructed to return it, but the firefighter said that the team could use it to cut drywall.

MacKay returned the saw, but admitted he still had a battery.

“Mr. MacKay said that the battery would work on a drill at home,” Levenson told the court.

Back at MacKay’s base, Hall 6 in Murrayville, it was arranged for MacKay to return the battery to the outbuilding.

The BEO asked MacKay if there was something else he, the officer, didn’t know about.

MacKay then admitted that he also had a hammer, halogen lamp and battery charger. All were returned to the property within 24 hours, Levenson said.

MacKay admitted that he had planned them for his own use.

Levenson noted MacKay’s clean record and the fact that he had already been disciplined by the fire department.

A letter of reprimand remains on his file, too.

Levenson said that MacKay had suffered “personally and psychologically” as a result of his actions.

Two options as a penalty for MacKay’s “ill-advised act” were suggested: a conditional service tied to community service, or an an absolute discharge with a mandatory victim surcharge exceeding the norm.

[A victim surcharge is added to fines imposed for federal and provincial offences. Funds are used to support victim services and initiatives].

PSIT has been disbanded “not for this reason (involving MacKay) but for various other reasons,” defence lawyer John Douglas said.

MacKay “did not try to hide it . . . and it was all corrected in a 24-hour period.”

He said that MacKay had been a firefighter for 23 years, and an inspector for the past 12 years. Married for three years, he has been widowed twice, Douglas told Lytwyn.

MacKay was not the only member of PSIT to steal.

“Other things were taken by other members of the team, “ Douglas told the court.

These items include garbage bags and bolts.

She told MacKay: “You were employed in a position of trust, and that placed a tremendous amount of responsibility on your shoulders.”

MacKay had learned a lesson, the judge said.

Levenson suggested $500, rather than the usual $50, but Judge Lytwyn rejected that sum.

“It creates the perception that this is a fine,” she said, before giving MacKay an absolute discharge.

He must still pay the $50 victim levy.

Outside the courtroom, MacKay, looking tired and drawn, said he was relieved that the case was over. Asked if his job was still intact, he said, “That’s up to the fire chief and Human Resources. But I would like to think that I still have a career. As far as I know, I’m still employed. On Monday, I will be back at work.”

MacKay added: “The team went down because of a harassment complaint and that file was substantiated.”