Bennett acquitted of weapons charges
Aretired Lethbridge police officer was acquitted in Calgary court on Tuesday of firearms trafficking charges. According to several media reports, Justice Beth Hughes said the Crown failed to prove its case against Daniel Bennett — who retired from the Lethbridge Regional Police Service in 2001.
Bennett was arrested in October 2011 and charged after Calgary police officers raided his home, business and a storage facility, searching for evidence relating to a June 2010 weapons bust in Calgary.
Police said undercover officers, acting on a tip, witnessed men selling weapons from the trunk of a car in a parking lot. At the time, police laid 104 weaponsrelated charges against four Calgary men, seizing 16 firearms, including a machine gun.
Although Bennett’s initial court hearings were held in Lethbridge, his matters were transferred to Calgary last February. He later elected to be tried by judge and jury and a date was set for the preliminary hearing.
On Tuesday, the Calgary Justice said testimony of the prosecution’s primary witness, from Anthony Stephan, wasn’t convincing. He testified that he agreed to sell, on behalf of Bennett, handguns and a semi-automatic submachinegun to various buyers.
Bennett, an avid gun collector and an awardwinning shooter, contacted the Lethbridge Herald after he was initially charged and said police evidence against him was uncorroborated and unsubstantiated.
“I have never done anything illegal,” he said. “Any guns that I have sold have all been sold legally, above board, and the firearms records in Canada have a complete record of that.”
According to Calgary media, Bennett told the court he was the victim of a break-in at his residence and had nothing to do with the sale of the guns. Following the acquittal, Bennett’s defence lawyer David Chow told Calgarybased reporters the ruling was welcomed by his client.
“He’s relieved,” Chow said. “He’s happy to have this over with and they’re digesting the decision.”