A 39-year-old Yorkton man has been fined for possession of explosives.
James Loder was arrested in August 2015 after the RCMP received a complaint from the accused鈥檚 employer about stolen explosives. Investigators executed a search warrant on Loder鈥檚 residence where they found a length of detonating cord, some detonators, a number of sticks of explosives and blasting wire.
After being charged, Loder was released on a recognizance that included a curfew. On February 22, he was back in custody and in court for breaching that curfew.
He pleaded guilty to one criminal code charge of possession of explosives, one count of possession under the Explosives Act and two counts of breach.
In a joint submission with the defence, the Crown asked for fines of $500 and $1,000 on the explosives charges, $250 on the first breach and four days time-served on the second breach, which Judge Ross Green accepted and imposed.
Loder will also spend a year on probation with the statutory conditions of keeping the peace and being of good behaviour.
In calling the joint submission 鈥渁ppropriate,鈥� defence attorney Shane Wagner listed a number of mitigating circumstances. He said his client was certified in explosives and the materials he had were not a danger without blasting caps, which Loder had stored separately. Wagner also cited the defendant鈥檚 lack of prior criminal record and argued that an initial RCMP press release stating that Loder had issued threats was incorrect and made the incident seem worse than it was.
Green also issued the mandatory 10-year firearms prohibition and forfeiture of the explosives.
