Recommended sentences rejected as accused pleads to multiple charges

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on October 1, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 50-year-old Lethbridge man caught a break and received a short jail sentence after a judge disagreed with sentences recommended by the Crown prosecutor and the man’s lawyer.

Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles recommended Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court that David Scott Walker receive a jail sentence of five and a half months on charges of assault, uttering threats to kill, poison or injure an animal, and two counts each of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to a person and failure to comply with release conditions.

Calgary lawyer Shaun Leochko, on the other hand, recommended his client only be sent to jail for 95 days, which is the amount of time Walker has spent in remand custody, effectively completing his sentence. Leochko also suggested a longer period of probation to reflect the lower sentence.

Judge Peter Ayotte, however, didn’t accept either recommendation, and sentenced Walker, who attended court by CCTV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, to a global jail term of just over four months, and gave him credit for 95 days pre-trial custody, leaving him with 41 days to serve.

On July 3 of this year police responded to a complaint about a domestic disturbance at a northside residence and spoke to a woman who had been involved in an argument with Walker. Walker accused the woman – his intimate partner at the time – of taking a garage door opener and he threatened her and her dog.

“Mr. Walker threatened (the woman), saying he was going to come for her dog, along with slashing her vehicle tires and smashing her vehicle,” Giles said.

Walker then told the woman, “just f—ing watch yourself, because I am coming for you.”

The woman also told police Walker had assaulted her two days earlier when he grabbed her neck with both hands and lifted her off the ground.

Walker was arrested but later released and ordered to not have any contact with the woman. However, on July 8 Walker called the woman and asked if she would help him paint a house. She went to the house and they argued, during which he blamed her for him going to jail and ruining his life.

The woman called police Aug. 2 and said she was still having problems with Walker, despite his court-ordered no contact conditions. She said that two weeks earlier she was driving with Walker and he was acting strangely, which prompted her to ask him if he was going to hurt her.

“He responded by saying he was going to shoot her…with a BB gun, stab her and wrap her in plastic,” Giles said.

Around that same time Walker told the woman through text messages and in person that she was dead and he was going to kill her.

“Mr. Walker told her that if she leaves him, he will kill her.”

On another occasion Walker showed up at her house and told her to carry in a suitcase. He opened the suitcase and showed her two rifles, two handguns and a holster. Giles said this added to her fear, particularly after he had previously threatened her.

On Aug. 1 while they were driving together, the woman asked to return home, which upset Walker. He slammed on the brakes, which sent the dog “flying,” and took her phone.

Giles pointed out the woman was aware of the no-contact provision of Walker’s release conditions, but believed the only way to prevent him from threatening to kill her if she leaves him, is by allowing contact.

Giles pointed out Walker has a criminal record dating back to 1994, which includes convictions for mischief, impaired driving, possession of stolen property, common assault, theft, food fraud, obstructing a peace officer, domestic assault, break and enter, drug possession, and taking a motor vehicle without consent. In 2019 he was sentenced for a string of property related offences and sent to jail for 30 months.

“He certainly cannot say that he is a previous good character.”

Leochko told court his client suffers from substance abuse, but has had long periods of stability and is doing better. While in custody he has also applied to two residential treatment facilities.

“He’s had some time now to reflect and have some sobriety and re-orient his goals, and is in a position to start fresh,” Leochko said.

In addition to his jail sentence, Walker will be on probation for 18 months following his release from custody, during which he is not to have any contact with the woman, not possess any weapons, and receive treatment and counselling as directed by his probation supervisor, including counselling for substance abuse.

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