A Pictou Landing man has requested a sentencing circle be held to decide his punishment after he pleaded guilty to three charges in provincial court yesterday.
Robert Richard Gould, 26, was charged with assaulting a police officer, obstructing police and breaching his probation.
A sentencing circle isn’t an option used often, said Francine Pirro, a court worker with the Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network, and has only been held a few times in recent years in this area.
Aboriginal sentencing circles are a traditional form of justice that brings together the offender, victims, family, community members, elders and court officials to decide on the best response to the crime.
Usually, it takes between six and eight weeks to get all of those parties together, Pirro told the court.
