Michael Gordon Jackson appealing verdict in daughter’s abduction

A Saskatchewan man convicted of kidnapping his daughter to stop her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine is appealing both his conviction and sentence.

A jury found 55-year-old Michael Gordon Jackson guilty back in April 2024, of breaking a custody order after a trial at Regina’s Court of Kings Bench.

Jackson is now challenging the verdict and his probation sentence at Saskatchewan’s highest court.

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In a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, dated December 6, Jackson claims the verdict was “unreasonable” and “cannot be supported by the evidence; there was a miscarriage of justice.”

He also argued in the notice that “the sentence imposed is demonstrably unfit in the circumstances.”

Jackson filed his notice of appeal on the same date as his sentencing, where he was handed a one-year sentence behind bars, two years probation and 100 hours of community service.

His conditions while on probation include not contacting his daughter or her mother without the express written permission of the court.

However, Jackson had 531 days of enhanced credit for the time he already spent in remand custody, so he didn’t have to spend any more time behind bars.

The high-profile case began in November of 2021 when Jackson failed to return his daughter to her mother as per their custody agreement. He said it was because he wanted to protect his daughter from the COVID-19 vaccine, which her mother had planned to have her get.

Jackson was arrested three months later in Vernon B.C., on a Canada Wide warrant.