A Leamington man was sentenced to six months in jail Thursday for his part in a shooting in 2014 that had police on a manhunt and put area schools in a hold and secure.

The court heard it wasn't exactly a cut-and-dry case and his mental health played a factor.

Both the Crown and defence agreed that Brandon Gibbs' mental health was a factor in the case and Thursday's proceedings and how the court dealt with the case was equally unique.

On Sept. 5, 2014, downtown Leamington was crawling with police as officers looked up and down Talbot Street for a suspect who shot another man in the face with a bb gun.

That suspect was Gibbs, who was 33 at the time.

When police finally tracked him down, he was charged with a number of offences, including aggravated assault, possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

A number of charges were eventually dropped after Gibbs pleaded guilty to a single charge of breach of firearms probation.

During sentencing, his lawyer Shannon Pollock told court Gibbs suffers from mental health issues, has severe anxiety, PTSD and is highly emotional.

That showed in court Thursday, when Gibbs tearfully announced, “I have no family doctor. I can't even get a psychiatrist."

Court heard that Gibbs carried the weapon because he feared for his life and used it in self-defence.

“I'm not going to let someone stab me and kill me," Gibbs said.

In her decision, Justice Renee Pomerance said Gibbs should have reported the threats against him to police instead of taking matters into his own hands.

Pomerance noted Gibbs' mental health as a mitigating factor, even providing leniency to Gibbs in court, allowing a number of disruptions and outbursts and remaining very sensitive to his state.

Pomerance reminded Gibbs a number of times "everyone is trying to be fair to you."

She sentenced him to jail for six months for the breach, but counting six months time already served, Gibbs is now a free man.

Pomerance says "at this point, it would serve little purpose to re-incarcerate Mr. Gibbs."