Bench warrant issued for farm writer in sheep nabbing case

by JOE CALLAHAN

A court official in Cobourg confirmed Tuesday that a discretionary bench warrant has been issued for an agricultural journalist who is one of four facing charges related to the disappearance of sheep that had been placed under a federal quarantine.

The warrant, which, according to the Ministry of the Attorney General’s web site is a form of an arrest warrant, was issued after Suzanne Atkinson failed to appear in Ontario Court of Justice proceedings on Sept. 18 in Lindsay.

The warrant will not be enforced unless Atkinson fails to show at her next scheduled court appearance on Nov. 29.

Atkinson was the only no-show for the proceedings that abruptly adjourned early afternoon. Atkinson hung up when a Better Farming reporter tried to reach her last week.

Atkinson’s lawyer, Nathan Baker of Peterborough, declined to comment, as did Crown Attorney Damien Frost.

Atkinson, a journalist who frequently contributes to the weekly farm newspaper Ontario Farmer, was assigned to cover Montana Jones’ protest of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s decision to destroy sheep on her farm over concerns about scrapie, says the publication’s editor and publisher, Paul Mahon.

The Agency quarantined the farm in 2009 after a sheep that had been born there tested positive for the disease. Scrapie is a neurological disease that can kill sheep and goats. It does not affect people.

The night before they were scheduled for destruction in 2012, 31 sheep were taken from Jones’ farm. A note left claimed a group or person going by the name Farmers Peace Corp had taken the animals. Most of the animals were later found on a Bruce County farm.

Late last year, Atkinson, Linda [Montana] Jones, Michael Schmidt and Robert Pinnell, were charged under the Criminal Code of Canada with: conspiracy to commit obstruction of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspector, conspiracy to transport or cause to transport an animal under quarantine and to defraud the public of a service over $5,000.00. They also face charges of obstructing a CFIA inspector and transport or causing to transport an animal under quarantine under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations.

Jones also faces another charge of obstructing a CFIA inspector under the Health of Animals Act and Pinnell also faces a charge of attempting to obstruct justice and another for obstructing a public officer, both under the Criminal Code.

Meanwhile, a motion to review bail conditions for Jones and Schmidt originally scheduled to be heard Sept. 19 has been referred to the Superior Court of Justice at a date yet to be determined by the court’s trial coordinator. BF

– with files from Susan Mann