MURDER TRIAL PUTS FOCUS ON TEENAGE DRUG USE

Jury Weighs Fate of Father Who Killed Dealer

It's a divisive case that has never been too far below the surface in
these parts for the past four years.

On one side is a salt-of-the-earth father, a welder who teaches
people to play the bagpipes in his spare time.

At the end of his rope one day, he guns down his troubled daughter's
drug-dealing boyfriend to pull her from the clutches of addiction.

On the other, a nice but troubled young man. A 24-year-old
bodybuilder who had withered away because of morphine addiction, his
life stolen before he had a chance to turn it around.

The story of James Hayward's 2003 slaying has exploded into the
national spotlight over the past two weeks as the father, 50, charged
with first-degree murder, faced a jury.

As the jurors continued to deliberate over the man's fate last
night, people in Yorkton, a city of 17,000 in eastern Saskatchewan,
were talking.

While the opinions varied, sympathy for all those involved seemed to
be a common thread.

"I've sort of known both people involved here," said Lawrence Koban,
a retired hospital maintenance worker, who sat through several days
of the trial. "It's sad. I can't blame Hayward and I can't blame the
father. I can't condemn one from the other."

The trial has shone a harsh light on the destructive force illegal
drugs can have on the lives of addicts and their loved ones in any
community. Yorkton is no different, Koban suggested.

Mel Currah is the father of the man's oldest son's fiancee, and sat
with the family for most of the trial.

What sticks out most for him about the case is how the health and
justice systems seemed to fail everyone.

Currah cited how the father could only get his daughter committed to
a hospital against her will for three days - not long enough to
overcome her addiction.

"He was protecting his family," Currah said. "It's not right to kill
- - don't get me wrong - but if you look at the circumstances, he did
everything he could. The system has got to change."

Hayward should have been given more help with his drug problems when
he faced drug-trafficking charges prior to the shooting, Currah added.

Since the shooting, laws have been changed in some provinces to give
parents more options to deal with their drug-addicted teens.

The family only was able to get an order from a judge under the
Mental Health Act to get their daughter committed to a hospital for three days.

But last April, Saskatchewan adopted a law similar to one in Alberta
allowing parents to have their children forced into detox treatment
for up to 15 days.

A spokesperson with the Saskatchewan government said 103 such orders
have been issued. Manitoba has adopted a similar seven-day law.

Close relatives of both Walker and Hayward have stayed relatively
quiet since the jury began deliberating Wednesday morning.

But Walker told reporters he has received a lot of support from
across the country and the fact his daughter was saved from a life of
drug abuse makes everything worthwhile.

Hayward's mother said media coverage has left the public with the
wrong impression of her son, whom she described as a good person who
didn't get a chance to be saved.

Outside Yorkton, talk radio hosts and bloggers have seized on the case.

"So long to bad rubbish!" wrote one blogger from Winnipeg named Barb
on jacksnewswatch.com. "One less dirty rotten drug dealer to worry about."

But on the blog www.bluelight.ru, billed as an international message
board that educates the public about responsible drug use, most
entries about the case come at it from the other point of view.

"I am going to shoot the owner of my local liquor store now, before
my alcoholic mom can buy any more booze," wrote one blogger who goes
by the handle Lurkerguy.

"The 15-year-old McDonald's cashier is next."