Walpole Island man blasted for defying weapons bans, sentenced to 18 months

As he imposed another weapons ban, Justice Mark Poland pointed out nine other judges already told Edward Sands he can’t have them.

“The reality is that Mr. Sands has not gotten the message,” he said. “He’s been repeatedly told and he’s repeatedly thumbed his nose at the order of the courts.”

For his latest weapons-related convictions, Sands, a 35-year-old Walpole Island First Nation resident, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars, including one year for defying his prior no-weapons court orders.

The most recent incident took place May 20, 2022, outside an Austin Road home on the First Nation between Sarnia and Chatham. A group of friends gathered there that Friday heard gunshots and two witnesses saw Sands walking in the area with what appeared to be a long gun.

Police found Sands, who was out on bail at the time, at his grandmother’s house. They also found a backpack with personal belongings, drug paraphernalia and a 12-gauge shotgun that’d been broken down into multiple pieces.

Following a spread-out trial that started last fall, Sands was found guilty of two counts of possession contrary to order, possession of an unauthorized firearm and possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized.

But he was found not guilty of discharging a firearm as the judge said there was no evidence linking the shots the crowd heard to him. An expert’s report on the seized shotgun also noted its magazine cap was missing and the gun was only capable of firing one shell before falling apart and potentially injuring the shooter.

The unauthorized possession of a firearm charge was later conditionally remained due to the Kienapple principle, which is meant to keep people from being convicted of two charges for the same offence.

Still, assistant Crown attorney Michael Donald asked for two years in jail for the other three convictions due in part to Sands’ long criminal record. It features 44 convictions for offenses including assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, flight from police, resisting police, drug trafficking and four prior convictions for possession of a weapon while prohibited.

“The Crown sincerely does hope that Mr. Sands is able to change his life around at some point, but we still have to look here at the history to determine his current risk,” he said. “Mr. Sands presently presents a serious risk to public safety.”

In 2014, he received 10 months in jail for possessing a stolen boat and flight from police. He got another six-plus months the next year for stealing from his aunt and assaulting her.

He was handed another two years in 2016 for punching a police officer unconscious while resisting arrest.

Defense lawyer Ken Marley, who argued for a time-served sentence for last year’s offences, said his client’s family has been directly affected by the former residential school system and Gladue principles, direction from Parliament to use restraint when sentencing Indigenous people, apply to him . A pre-sentence report pointed out Sands uses crystal meth on a daily basis when he’s not in jail, but the father of four told the judge by teleconference from the Sarnia Jail he’s tried working on his addiction in the past and is interested in trying again .

“I truly, truly – for his sake and for the sake of his children and for the sake of the whole Walpole Island First Nation community – I truly hope that Mr. Sands is successful in the future in addressing his addiction issues,” Poland said .

But he also pointed out he’ll be the 10th judge to ban him from weapons.