Crown seeking recognizance order for violent offender

A 61-year-old man from Huntington has been issued a court summons as the provincial Crown is seeking to have him sign a recognizance to stay away from former victims.

Irving Joseph Cameron was issued the summons earlier this week and is scheduled to appear in provincial court Tuesday.

Cameron, whose criminal record includes several violent offences, was sentenced in 2014 in Sydney to complete a 27-month federal sentence on three counts of uttering threats, two counts of breaching court orders and single counts of assault with a weapon (a knife), assault, unlawful confinement, and mischief. The offences occurred in 2012.

In applying for the court to issue the summons, prosecutor Darcy MacPherson said Cameron was released on those offences in December 2016 and moved to Alberta.

MacPherson said Cameron also served a 20-year federal sentence beginning in 1983 in relation to a violent sexual assault and armed robbery. He served the entire sentence.

After being released last December, Cameron did move to Alberta but in January, he was charged in Saskatchewan with impaired driving and was issued a fine, a one-year driving ban and served five days in jail.

MacPherson said now that Cameron has returned to Cape Breton, his presence is causing concern for a former female victim who still fears Cameron.

“There are concerns now for her safety and that of the public in general,” he said, in requesting the application be granted.

Provincial court Judge Brian Williston did approve the request and the summons was served this week.