Sentence handed down in housebreaking

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 4, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

Taking a page out of the children’s nursery tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Bryer Malachi One Owl entered a westside home, helped himself to some food, then fell asleep in one of the bedrooms. When the owner returned home from Calgary, One Owl fled out the window.
One Owl pleaded guilty Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of housebreaking, being unlawfully in a house, breaching release orders, theft and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Court was told that at about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2020 the owner of the westside home – One Owl’s former father-in-law – returned home from Calgary and found his front door unlocked. When he entered the house he could tell someone had been inside; food was left out and some had been eaten, and someone had slept in an upstairs bedroom. There were also personal belongings left in the bedroom.
The homeowner found One Owl standing in the backyard, after having just climbed out the bedroom window.
One Owl was caught in the home a second time on Dec. 17, 2021, after his former father-in-law, who, with his daughter, has custody of One Owl’s children, arrived home and discovered One Owl had again broken into his house. He found One Owl sleeping in a closet in the master bedroom.
Three days later One Owl returned to the home, but he was unable to get inside. He was charged with breaching a release order that prohibited him from being within 100 metres of the residence.
In unrelated incidents, One Owl was caught stealing about $40 worth of food from a gas station on Sept. 4, 2020, and on Oct. 20 of last year One Owl was seen walking in the area of 3 Avenue and 8 Street South with a handgun tucked into his waistband. Two police officers found him shortly afterward and discovered the weapon was actually a Co2 powered pellet gun.
Calgary lawyer John Oman told court One Owl, 26, has long been addicted to alcohol and fentanyl, but he wants to arrange for detox and a treatment program once he’s released from custody.
One Owl was sentenced to 85 days in jail, but given credit for the equivalent of 66 days spent in remand custody, leaving 19 days on his sentence. He will also be on probation for one year following his release, during which he is prohibited from possessing weapons, being intoxicated outside his home, contacting his former father-in-law, and being near his home. He must also be assessed and receive treatment and counselling for substance abuse.

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