New Victoria man facing multiple offences after sales from trunk of car

A 28-year-old New Victoria man is to appear in provincial court Monday for a bail hearing after being nabbed trying to sell various items which police now allege were stolen.

Michael Jake Currie of Youngs Lane was arrested Thursday morning in New Waterford by Cape Breton Regional Police who were called to a parking lot on Emerald Street with a report of a suspicious person.

Officers attended the scene and found Currie selling tools and electronics from the trunk of his vehicle. A closer inspection of the items by police revealed some were reported stolen.

The vehicle being used by Currie also matched the description of a car seen leaving a New Waterford residence where a laptop was reported stolen.

Currie is now facing 10 new charges that include four counts of break, enter and theft, three counts of theft, and single counts of theft over $5,000, mischief and possession of stolen property.

The offences are alleged to have occurred Thursday in New Waterford on Emerald and Mahon streets. Surveillance video from the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital indicates Currie was also responsible for damage to vehicles in the parking lot.

Currie is also facing 19 other unrelated charges that include theft, unlawfully being in a dwelling and breaching court orders.

Among the items found in Currie’s possession were multiple cell phones, a laptop, tools, cigarettes, prescription pills, and a television.

Currie made a brief court appearance Friday in provincial court and was remanded until Monday pending the outcome of a bail hearing. Judge reserves decision in O’Dea manslaughter case

A provincial court judge reserved decision Friday after a two-day preliminary hearing in connection with the 2017 death of a Sydney Mines woman.

Judge Diane McGrath is now expected to deliver her decision July 16.

Accused Kimberly Anne O’Dea, 37, now a resident of Grand Falls-Windsor, NL., is charged in relation to the July 14, 2017, death of Dana Marie Jessome, 28, of Sydney Mines.

She is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death. She had been charged with seconddegree murder but that charge was reduced to manslaughter prior to the start of the preliminary hearing.

Evidence presented at the hearing is banned from publication.

O’Dea is alleged to have been the driver of a vehicle that struck Jessome on Oxford Street in Sydney Mines.

If ordered to stand trial on the charges, O’Dea has elected to be tried by a Supreme Court judge and jury.

Meanwhile, O’Dea is also to return to provincial court July 30 to enter a plea on a new charge of criminal harassment. She is alleged to have had repeated contact with a male individual who now fears for his safety.

O’Dea continues her release on a host of conditions. Sydney lawyer lauded

on his final day

A lawyer with the Sydney office of Nova Scotia Legal Aid drew high praise Friday in appearing for the last time before provincial court Judge Brian Williston.

Blair Kasouf retired Friday after more than 30 years in the legal profession, with stops along the way serving as a social worker, addictions counsellor, along with time as a child protection and family services worker.

“You have shown great dedication to improving the lives of others and you have earned a well-deserved reputation across the province for that work,” said Williston, in noting Kasouf’s final day.

“We will miss you and wish you well,” said the judge.

Kasouf, of Sydney Mines, said Friday he will return briefly to the courtroom to finish off a single case in a few weeks but has no plans to return to law on a full-time basis.

When asked what his plans are for retirement, Kasouf said he planned on mowing lawn on Saturday, suggesting he’s simply going to take one-day at a time.

“My career has certainly had its up and downs,” said Kasouf, adding he has no regrets about his time as a criminal defence attorney. Dutch Brook man charged with breaching conditional

sentence

Sixteen days after receiving a conditional sentence, a Dutch Brook man is back in jail after being charged with breaching the terms of his communitybased sentencing order.

David Angus Forrest, 36, of Cranberry Lake Road, was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. on Friday after Cape Breton Regional Police were called to Front Lake Road concerning a suspicious man walking on the road.

Police reported finding Forrest intoxicated and staggering along the road.

He is now alleged to have breached his sentence order by failing to be of good behavior, failing to refrain from intoxicating substances and failing to adhere to his 24/7 curfew provisions.

He was sentenced in June to serve a 22-month conditional sentence after recording his 58th conviction for theft. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft and three counts of breaching court orders in a series of shoplifting incidents that stretched from Antigonish to Marion Bridge between 2016 and 2017.

At the time of sentencing, the Crown sought a 22-month jail sentence but the judge imposed a conditional sentence, noting such a sentence would allow Forrest the opportunity to continue tending to the property owned by his ailing in-laws, care for his pregnant partner and continue to work lobster fishing.

Conditional sentences allow offenders to serve their time in the community under strict conditions as opposed to going to jail. Forrest has about 183 days left to serve on the sentence.

During a brief provincial court appearance Friday, Forrest was remanded pending the outcome of a bail hearing now set for July 13.

Forrest is also to return to provincial court Monday for a trial on charges stemming from a home invasion last year in North Sydney.