A Frobisher man will spend the next two and a half years in jail after pleading guilty to a slew of charges.
David Anderson pleaded guilty to assault, forcible confinement, obstructing justice, theft and breaching conditions of a release. Anderson appeared in custody during Monday's provincial court proceedings in Estevan. He's been on remand for about two months.
The assault and forcible confinement charges resulted from an incident on March 24. The victim, a woman Anderson was in a relationship with, alerted the RCMP she was being held in a residence and unable to leave.
Crown prosecutor Mitch Crumley told the court that Anderson was driving a vehicle erratically with the victim inside. She wanted to get out, but he wouldn't stop and when she put her feet on the dash he struck her in the temple.
Back in the residence, he threatened to bash her head in with a hammer and wouldn't let her leave. When RCMP officers attended the residence, Anderson ran inside and struggled with officers when they attempted to handcuff him, which they eventually did successfully.
After that incident, he was remanded in custody. On remand, Crumley noted Anderson made a number of phone calls to different people, discussing his plans.
"His plans are, I suppose, benign enough. He indicates he had some injury to his leg and his intention was to use some crutches to (gain) the court's sympathy."
Anderson also contacted his mother, suggesting she lie to the court, suggesting that he could be employed by her if he were released from custody. He called the victim, telling her not to show up in court, suggesting if she didn't testify, the charges would be dropped. He also advised her to wear heavy clothing in order to appear pregnant and get perhaps more sympathy from the court.
"The victim has the integrity and strength to stand up to that and says basically you know what you did now, my words here not hers, now man up and deal with it," added Crumley.
Anderson's theft charge stems from an incident in which he took $250 from his father by forging a cheque to another individual who then cashed it. It was suggested that his father paid the third party to complete some work, but instead the individual was providing Anderson with drugs.
Anderson was represented by Legal Aid lawyer Greg Wilson, who noted his client has a lengthy record, but nothing of particular significance. He said the charges, if on their own, would be at the lower end in terms of seriousness, and that aggravating would be all the charges coming out right now.
Along with the two-and-a-half-year sentence, Anderson must provide a DNA sample and will be under a 10-year firearms prohibition.
In other court proceedings from Monday, sentencing went ahead for Gerald Kanigan, who previously pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana. He received an 18-month conditional sentence order after selling 11 grams of marijuana for $140 to two undercover peace officers. In a second incident, he agreed to again sell about 14 grams of marijuana, but took the officers' $140 and didn't return.
For conditions, he is ordered to pay a fine of $500, as well as $140 of restitution for the stolen money,
and will be on electronic monitoring for the first six months of the order, with a curfew of between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the remainder. He must also submit to a search without reasonable grounds of his person, vehicle or residence not more than three times per month and will be under a 10-year firearms prohibition. His car, valued at about $1,000, was seized when he was arrested last year and it will be forfeited.
