Jonny Wakefield

News: the Alberta Police Review Commission has hired the head of AB’s police watchdog as its inaugural CEO. The “massive” new agency (~150 staff) is set to launch in Dec. & will take officer discipline out of the hands of chiefs of police edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/law…

NEWS: Alberta's police watchdog has cleared an Edmonton police officer who repeatedly punched a man in the head during an arrest. ASIRT says the arrestee threw the first punch, but the man's lawyer is disputing that finding. edmontonjournal.com/news/asirt-edm…

News: Where is Natanis Merasty? Edmonton police seek tips after Indigenous woman's disappearance edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/nat…

New from me: An Edmonton sexual abuse case has been delayed for more than one year after the judge declared a mistrial over concerns with the defence lawyer’s understanding of the law. edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/edm…

NEWS: Jamal Wheeler, the man who randomly killed Rukinisha Nkundabatware at an Edmonton transit station in 2023, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. He has a long history of attacking transit users, including with bear spray, his fists and an axe edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/jam…

Seems Edmonton City Coun. Sarah Hamilton just swore quite profusely at Coun. Jo-Anne Wright over a scheduling issue during a council meeting reddit.com/r/Edmonton/com…

NEWS: David Moss's appeal of his conviction for the brutal murder of a 7-y/o Edmonton girl in 2020 has been dismissed. Moss asked to be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, but the trial judge ruled his psychosis was cannabis-induced edmontonjournal.com/news/david-mic…

New from me: an Edmonton man who crashed his car into a lamppost, tearing the vehicle in half and killing his friend, has been sentenced to house arrest for dangerous driving causing death edmontonjournal.com/news/local-new…

Updated with more details. Speaking in absolutes is usually a bad idea for a journalist, but safe to say a dangerous offender designation for a fraudster has few if any precedents

NEWS: Edmonton romance fraudster Jeff Kent will be locked up indefinitely after a judge deemed him a dangerous offender. One of the few times someone has been DO'd for financial crime edmontonjournal.com/news/local-new…

For the morning crowd

New from me: an Alberta judge is facing a judicial complaint for briefly jailing a 36-week pregnant woman who showed up late for court. Refused to speak to release til end of day, leaving her in suspense about whether she’d be sent to remand. edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/com…

BREAKING: A man accused of starting a slew of arson fires in Edmonton's Alberta Avenue neighbourhood — including at the behest of a notorious landlord (now dead) — has been found guilty of setting the majority of the blazes edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/edm…

BREAKING: the Edmonton police officer caught on camera repeatedly striking a man with a baton has been found not guilty edmontonjournal.com/news/local-new…

New from me: an Alberta judge is proposing new guidelines for deciding who gets Gladue reports after rejecting a convicted robber’s claims to Indigenous identity. Really interesting decision that grapples with Indigenous identity fraud edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/alb…