Youth trial for arena damage rescheduled

Richard Froese,
Smoky River Express

A trial for a 16-year-old Falher boy charged in connection with vandalism at the Falher arena last fall has been rescheduled... again. Trial date pushed back to March 1 The teen, whose name cannot be released under the Young Offenders Act, appeared in Falher Provincial Court Feb. 15 where his trial was set over to March 1. Last week he appeared with an agent and was instructed by the judge to attain a lawyer and reappear next week to enter a plea. Falher taxpayers will pay $11,000 in damage caused by vandalism in Falher arena and curling rink s a result of the incident which occurred between Oct. 6 and 7. “When the youth appears in court, I hope the issue of restitution is addressed,” says Town of Falher Mayor Margaret Tardif. Scheduled to appear on Feb. 1, the teen was unable to attend after he was placed in foster care in Edmonton by Family and Child Services and Edmonton. He was charged last fall by McLennan RCMP with break-and-enter and committing mischief under $5,000 after the old section of the ice arena and curling rink was damaged. An estimate of damage will be provided by the Town of Falher in case of a conviction and restitution, says Sergeant Clayton. Whether the charge of mischief increases over $5,000 will be determined by the provincial Crown Prosecutor, says Sergeant Clayton. An insurance reserve was established by Falher council in 2005 to cover the deductible amount in events such as this incident, says Nicolet. Frames of hockey team photos and medals were smashed in the vandalism spree. Upstairs, the suspect smashed several frames of Smoky River Minor Hockey Association teams which competed in provincials, and stole the winning medals. Some of the pictures and photo mats were scratched and cut, and may be able to be reframed, he says. Downstairs, the major damage was the done after the doors below the glass display were forced open and damaged. A fire extinguisher was sprayed in the downstairs lobby, the hallway to the locker rooms, and an unlocked locker room and storage room. Over at the curling rink, liquor was stolen and a header pipe for the refrigeration system was damaged and needed to be replaced.