Shoplifter receives one-year jail sentence for threatening grocery store staff

According to the statement of facts read in court by Crown prosecutor Cindy Alexander, at 8:54 p.m. on Sept. 13, police were dispatched to Superstore for a weapons complaint. A woman who refused to produce a receipt for merchandise pulled out a pair of scissors and threatened to “cut” a store employee. The suspect then fled the scene and was not located.

The following night, around 7:40 p.m, police were again dispatched to Superstore for a weapons complaint. When officers arrived, Charles was restrained in a back room by the store’s assistant manager.

After speaking with staff, officers learned they identified Charles from the previous night’s incident. They questioned her about a shopping cart full of meat she was pushing and Charles fled to the back of the store. The assistant manager chased her and, when cornered, Charles pulled out a knife and lunged at him. He ended up dodging the attack and took Charles down, holding her until police arrived.

“This isn’t a situation where he could have easily withdrawn himself from the area,” Alexander said.

The defence

Legal aid lawyer Lorretta Markowski said there were many circumstances which contributed to Charles’s behaviour.

Markowski said Charles, her father and her grandparents, all attended residential schools. She endured abuse as a child which led to her placement in foster care.

The trauma led Charles to drugs and alcohol by age 12, Markowski said, adding the addictions overcame her by the time she received her residential school settlement.

“In many respects it made it worse,” Markowski said.

A lack of counselling and treatment intensified her issues, Markowski said. She added oftentimes her client was inspired by the work of police officers and at one time aspired to become one.

Prior to Friday’s sentencing hearing, Charles had over 20 convictions related to thefts, dating back to 1998.

Charles went to court the day of her first weapons offence at the Superstore. It was a sentencing hearing where she received a one-year conditional sentence order.

Judge Steven Schiefner, who sentenced her that morning, also presided over this case and accepted today’s joint jail sentence submission by Crown and defence.

“I felt I could take a chance on you to be in the community. That was a mistake,” he said.

While no one was hurt in the incident, Schiefner said the assault charge was still appropriate.

“People often think an assault means you make physical contact with somebody, but you don’t have to,” he said, adding it was obvious the incident had a “severe” impact.

The decision

Because Charles was serving a conditional sentence order at the time of the offence, she will finish the remaining time from her previous sentence in jail rather than in the community. The one-year sentence for the assault charge will commence after she serves 246 days. She is also ordered to submit a DNA sample into the government’s criminal database and is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms for 10 years.

When given the opportunity to speak, Charles apologized to the people she hurt. Schiefner commended her for accepting responsibility and encouraged her to seek counselling.

“There has to be a better way to deal with the things you are dealing with,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

Shoplifter receives one-year jail sentence for threatening grocery store staff

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