Man sentenced for theft of guns from unlocked car

In a Saskatoon courtroom, a provincial court judge wondered aloud why a man would walk past the area where he just stole three guns from an unlocked vehicle, carrying the very cases they had been stored inside.

The guns’ owner — an American hunter — recognized the cases and chased the man down, holding him until police could make an arrest, court heard during the sentencing for Douglas John Wentworth last week.

Wentworth pleaded guilty to several charges, including possessing a stolen firearm, in connection to an incident on Sept. 21 in downtown Saskatoon.

A group of hunters realized their long guns, passports, cellphones and other valuables had been stolen after returning to their rental car, which was parked near the Scotiabank Theatre, Crown prosecutor Dan Dahl said.

He told court one of the men spotted Wentworth — gun cases in hand — shortly after filing a report.

Well-known to police, Wentworth is homeless and has been struggling with “an out of control meth addiction” for eight years, defence lawyer Kim Armstrong said.

She told court her client has witnessed horrendous things during his life, including his mother’s murder when he was seven years old.

Judge Brent Klause accepted the Crown and defence’s joint submission sentence of one year for possessing a stolen firearm followed by a three-month consecutive sentence for possessing a stolen bike, which Wentworth was caught with the day before he stole the guns.

Armstrong said because of a wait list at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, the 15-month sentence will give Wentworth enough time to complete programming.

Klause questioned why the hunters would leave their guns inside an unlocked vehicle. The men apparently couldn’t figure out the vehicle’s fob system, Armstrong replied.