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North Battleford Senior Crown Prosecutor Chris Browne and Prince Albert defence lawyer Rebecca Crookshanks asked the court that the matter be adjourned to May 28, 2021. Crookshanks said on that date Sangster, 23, will enter an election on how he wants to be tried. After a three-week preliminary hearing last year, Judge Kevin D. Hill ruled in October 2020 that there was enough evidence for Sangster to stand trial. Samuel Takakenew, 36, also had an appearance Feb. 19. At the time that his matter was dealt with, Takakenew wasn’t in the courtroom and his appearance was waived. Judge Murray Pelletier said let the record reflect that Takakenew did come to the courthouse in person and he was screened out in the COVID-19 screening process done prior to court starting. Takakenew is currently out on bail. He is charged with accessory to murder after the fact.
For the Battlefords a case could be made that it was our worst year ever worse than even the cryptosporidium and oil spill years and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted shutdowns, economic devastation, and no shortage of loss of life in the province and world. It was a year in which one event after another ended up postponed or called off. It was also a year of devastating tragedy: the loss of a beloved Battleford NHL player, a tragic local murder-suicide, and ongoing and notorious criminal cases in the local courts. But look on the bright side: at least North Battleford isn’t the “Crime Capital of Canada” anymore, ending a long streak at the top of the Crime Severity Index this year.