Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

Alberta man sentenced for rural theft near N.B.

Jan 25, 2018 | 1:09 PM

A man from the Lacombe area of Alberta will be spending a couple of years in jail after he tried to trade in his stolen car for a stolen truck.

Matthew MacDonald, 32, appeared in North Battleford Provincial Court via CCTV on Thursday.

He pleaded guilty to stealing a truck, and for being in possession of stolen car.

He also pleaded to a separate charge of breaching his probation.

Judge Daniel O’Hanlon based his sentencing on a joint submission from Crown and defence. MacDonald was sentenced to two years concurrent in custody for theft and being in possession of stolen property related to an incident in the rural area near North Battleford.

This sentence is being served at the same time as a separate Alberta sentence MacDonald is already serving.

The accused also received six months in custody concurrent for a separate offence of breaching a probation order, so his total sentence is two years in custody.

MacDonald is also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.

O’Hanlon pointed out the rural area where the property offence took place is a very open location that he has driven by himself on many occasions.

“There has been a problem in the North Battleford area with offences occurring in rural areas,” the judge added.

The offence relates to a Dec. 8, 2017 incident near North Battleford.

In the statement of facts, the accused was said to have been driving a stolen car in the local area when he stopped at a farm East of North Battleford where he attempted to steal a truck.

He ended up driving the truck into a ditch when the property owners attempted to stop him.

Defence lawyer Andrew Lister said MacDonald gave an early guilty plea as a mitigating factor in the local case. He added the accused requested to be in a federal prison system where he can have access to rehabilitating programming.

MacDonald said when he addressed the court he apologizes for his actions.

“I’m 100 per cent guilty for what I did,” he said.

The judge said the accused should also make an effort to deal with a drug addiction issue he has been challenged by, and start the process to access help to get better. 

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow