Lonefighter denied sentencing circle

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A traditional sentencing circle is not in the cards for Peigan activist Milton Born With A Tooth.

Justice Willis O'Leary discounted the ceremony, saying the man convicted of weapons offences has neither admitted to any wrong doing or showed any remorse for what he has done.

"In my view his community will not benefit substantially from a sentencing circle," said O'Leary. He said the accused must first show a willingness to be rehabilitated before a sentencing circle would be considered.

The judge did promise to move the sentencing closer to Born With A Tooth's home on the Peigan Reserve in southern Alberta. He would also allow band members to speak to the record in part of the sentencing process.

Born With A Tooth is facing sentencing on five weapons charges, including using a firearm while committing an indictable offence, which carries a minimum one-year jail term.

The charges relate back to Sept. 7, 1990 when a group known as the Lonefighters and the RCMP faced off on the Peigan Indian Reserve, where the Lonefighters were protesting the constructin of a dam on the Oldman River. Born With A Tooth fired two shots into the air.