A 62-year-old man charged with assaulting two snowmobilers near Saskatoon last winter pleaded guilty Thursday.
Deryl Ring, an alpaca farmer in the R.M. of Corman Park, was charged with assault, assault with a weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and mischief following an RCMP investigation into the February 2014 confrontation.
He pleaded guilty to assault and mischief in Saskatoon provincial court Thursday and was released on a conditional discharge. He was ordered to serve 50 hours of community service and not be in possession of any weapons.
The incident was caught on camera by one of the sledders. Ring, armed with what appears to be a shotgun on a rural road, is seen confronting the snowmobilers before kicking one of the sleds and hitting one snowmobiler on the head.
Ring’s lawyer said his client was frustrated with snowmobilers in the area and that they upset his alpacas.
The Crown said the snowmobilers were on Ring’s neighbour’s property and that Ring had no right to approach the sledders with a shotgun — even if it wasn’t loaded.
Ring told media he’s just glad the incident is resolved.
“It was just an effort in protecting our property. That’s what the reason was that I went out there, but I’m just glad it’s all over. I’ve accepted responsibility and I just move on from here,” Ring said.
No one was injured in the incident and the snowmobiles weren’t damaged.
