A couple found guilty on several firearms and wildlife act violations will have to stay within Nisga’a traditional hunting territory when hunting, accompanying hunters or possessing hunting implements as part of their probation conditions.
William Sidney David Clayton, 35, and Dionne Delia Morven, 33, were given a conditional discharge with one year of probation with large fines to pay by judge Terence Wright in provincial court here Oct. 9.
Clayton was ordered to pay a total of $2,800 in fines and to abide by a five-year firearms prohibition on charges of knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence, storage etc. of a firearm contrary to regulation, hunting using light/illumination and discharging a firearm on or across a highway.
Morven will pay a total of $2,700 in fines and follow a three-year firearms prohibition on charges of occupy vehicle in which there is a firearm, hunt during prohibited hours and discharging a firearm in a no shooting area.
On January, 25, 2014, the pair was caught by a conservation officer, who seized a Mossberg scoped rifle from them in Rosswood.
Part of their sentence was also a forfeiture order that said if an individual comes forward with registered ownership documents and a firearms licence within 90 days, that person may get the firearm back.
If the firearm is not retrieved within that time limit, it will be forfeited and disposed of.
Clayton and Morven also have to complete 15 hours of community work service within the first nine months of their probation.
Their conditional discharge means if they complete their probation without breaching any of the conditions, they will not have any criminal record afterward.
