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Another drug trafficker receives jail time

A man involved in the Estevan drug trade received a jail term following a guilty verdict at trial. Calgary resident Hussein Daud received his sentence by Judge James Benison on Monday during Estevan provincial court.


A man involved in the Estevan drug trade received a jail term following a guilty verdict at trial. Calgary resident Hussein Daud received his sentence by Judge James Benison on Monday during Estevan provincial court. Benison found Daud guilty of trafficking ecstasy and possessing the proceeds of crime at a trial on July 9. Daud had no counsel when he appeared in court with his brother for sentencing.

Crown prosecutor Steven Dribnenki said it was in May 2011 when Daud sold 12 ecstasy pills for $200 to an undercover police officer. He noted that Daud is not local to Estevan, and it's becoming more common in this area to have people from Regina and outside of the province coming to Estevan to sell drugs.

"It's a trend that needs to be stopped and a strong message of deterrence and denunciation needs to be sent to say that Estevan is not a place to do that business," said Dribnenki.

He asked for a jail term of between 12 and 15 months.

Daud is a 29-year-old, originally from Zanzibar, but has been living in Canada since he was 18 and said he recently became a permanent resident.

In an emotional address to the court, he told Benison that selling drugs is not normal for him. He said he has followed all of the conditions he has been under since he was first charged, and that if he were given a community sentence he would abide by his conditions.

Benison noted that the pre-sentence report was positive for Daud, and that, according to the report, he was considered a good candidate for community supervision. However, Benison said a custodial sentence was necessary in this case to denounce and deter.

He sentenced Daud to 10 months in jail. He is also subject to a 10-year firearms prohibition and must provide a DNA sample.

In other court proceedings, a woman charged with assault causing bodily harm was sentenced after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of common assault.

Prince Albert resident Jessica Longclaws entered the plea in relation to an incident in Estevan on Jan. 21, in which she assaulted a woman with a bottle. Sean King, also allegedly assaulted a male in the same incident. King has been charged with aggravated assault and appeared in court on Monday. He was in custody and remanded to Sept. 24.

The assault occurred in the early morning hours, when Longclaws and King entered an apartment building to see some friends. The victim and her boyfriend were in the lobby of the building, looking for their keys.

Crown prosecutor Erin Schroh said it was unclear how the altercation started, but the male victim was allegedly attacked.

Schroh told the court, "That turned into a very violent assault. The male victim was dragged out of the apartment lobby onto the sidewalk and was brutally assaulted by one of the gentlemen the accused was with."

While the male victim was being assaulted, the female victim attempted to intervene. Schroh said that is when Longclaws struck the victim. Greg Wilson represented Longclaws as a Legal Aid lawyer and said the victim struck Longclaws first.

She then pulled out a bottle of alcohol and struck the victim on the head. Longclaws struck the victim a number of times, and with the bottle shattering upon one impact.

Wilson said Longclaws did not instigate her attack on the female victim, and she was entering the plea because there is no precedent to suggest that it is considered self-defence to use a "weapon in a fistfight." He said it was an excessive reaction by his client to strike the victim with a bottle.

The victim suffered no serious injury to her head, but she did experience some cuts on her arms.
Schroh said, "Her assault on the female victim was serious but made much more serious because of the circumstances of the fact that there was a group assault occurring."

Longclaws was sentenced to 12 months of probation, in which she must not have contact with the victims or co-accused and must complete 30 hours of community service, among other conditions.

In other court proceedings, an Estevan man will spend time in jail following guilty pleas to theft and obstruction of justice.

Evan Kallis was in custody on Sept. 13 answering to charges of theft and obstruction of justice. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Wilson represented Kallis and noted that jail was only a consideration because of Kallis' record, adding that he had recently been sentenced to six months jail.