Supreme Court of Canada shoots down Appeal Court, restores Regina man's arms conviction

The Supreme Court of Canada has restored firearms convictions against a Regina man, charges that had been overturned in an earlier appeal.

Stuart Michael George Sabiston was arrested on the charges in 2019 after members of the Regina Police Service gang unit spotted him walking in a neighbourhood police say is known for gang activity.

The officers said Sabiston was walking toward them when they noticed he was wearing a bullet-proof vest with no shirt underneath.

Police suspected the vest was stolen and arrested Sabiston, charging him with possession of stolen property.

They subsequently discovered a knife in his pocket and a loaded, sawed-off shotgun in his backpack.

The stolen property charges were ultimately stayed, but Sabiston was convicted on several firearms charges, including possession of a loaded prohibited firearm without a licence, possession of a firearm while prohibited, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. He was sentenced to a five-year jail term.

Sabiston appealed the conviction, saying the search was unlawful, and won in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal last year when two of the three justices votedto overturn his conviction, ruling the police did not have reasonable cause to search him.

On Oct. 11, the Supreme Court sided with the original trial judge and re-instated the conviction. The court said on its website it would provide written reasons for its decision once finalized.