Series of thefts earn Walker house arrest

A southern Alberta man who committed several criminal offences but was praised by a police officer investigating the case, has avoided jail.

However, David Scott Walker will still serve house arrest for eight months followed by curfew for another four months following his guilty plea last week in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of shopbreaking and possession of stolen property.

Court was told Walker was caught Feb. 13 of last year with several stolen items, including a licence plate and leather jacket. Then the following month he broke into a Taber compound and drove off with a truck and trailer. He was stopped by police sometime afterward and caught with the stolen vehicle.

On another occasion he was seen entering a rural property near Vulcan, and the truck he was driving at the time had been previously stolen. Although he claimed a friend let him use the truck and he didn’t know it was stolen, Crown prosecutor Vaughan Hartigan said Walker would have known but was “wilfully blind.”

Hartigan told court that even though Walker had convictions for property offences between 2005 and 2008, he had been doing relatively well since then, until he began abusing drugs again.

Otherwise, “he’s a pretty good guy” and father, Hartigan said, quoting the investigating officer.

Walker was given a 12-month conditional sentence with house arrest and curfew, and ordered to take counselling for substance abuse. He was also reminded that if he breaches conditions of his sentence, he will likely go to jail for a long time.

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