Mark McDiarmid’s sentencing hearing has been moved from Dawson City to Whitehorse because of security concerns.

Justice Elizabeth Hughes made the ruling this morning in Yukon Supreme Court. The hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday.

McDiarmid, 36, will be sentenced for three counts of assaulting police officers, mischief and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

He was convicted of the five charges, and acquitted of two counts of attempted murder, by a jury in Dawson earlier this year.

Typically, trials and subsequent sentencings are held in the community where the offences occurred.

In this case, Crown prosecutor Jennifer Grandy made an application to have the sentencing moved to Whitehorse.

This was because of some comments McDiarmid made in court on June 29.

He was seeking an adjournment that day to further prepare for the sentencing.

Grandy opposed the application because it would further delay an already years-old matter, she said – the offences date back to 2011.

Hughes said she wouldn’t be available for the rest of the year after July, and denied McDiarmid’s application.

“I will stop the sentencing even if I need to get a criminal charge to do it,” McDiarmid said, according to a court transcript.

“There will be no sentencing in July. It will be stopped.”

“You’re going to understand in the next few days why, why that is, why you’re causing this to happen,” he told the judge.

“Mr. McDiarmid, I’m sure you’re not threatening me, are you?” Hughes replied.

“I’m not,” McDiarmid said.

“I’m saying that I’m going to get more criminal charges which are going to stop the sentencing proceeding.”

These remarks prompted concerns about whether there are adequate security measures available in Dawson, Grandy said today.

There, the hearing would have been held inside the Old Territorial Administration Building, which now houses the Dawson City Museum – the same location as McDiarmid’s trial.

Grandy said both RCMP and the Sheriff’s Office would prefer to have the hearing held in Whitehorse, because the Law Courts Building has various security options.

There are cells located in the courthouse, so McDiarmid won’t have to be transferred in and out of the building on breaks in the proceedings, as would happen in Dawson, she said.

As well, the courthouse has a private route between the cells and the courtroom, so he won’t have to pass through a public space, Grandy said.

McDiarmid, who appeared in court by video from the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, opposed the application.

He said the museum does have a secure area historically used to hold inmates. He expressed concerns that if he was kept in cells in Whitehorse, RCMP would infringe upon his rights.

The proceedings will not be live-streamed in Dawson, as an earlier version of this story stated.