Chronic thief jailed despite pandemic plea

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This article was published 09/04/2020 (2224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As more offenders win reduced sentences in the wake of COVID-19, one Winnipeg thief learned Wednesday the pandemic is no “get-out-of-jail-free” card.

Michael Prince appeared in court hoping to be sentenced to time served for a serious of brazen thefts at Home Depot and Shoppers Drug Mart; instead, provincial court Judge Murray Thompson sent him back to his cell to serve another six months of a one year jail sentence.

“The courts and Crowns certainly have a heightened awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 in terms of the prison population, but at the same time, the rules with respect to sentencing are still in place,” Thompson said.

“Where appropriate, for the appropriate candidate and for the appropriate property crimes, court may consider time in custody,” he said. “This is not one of those cases.”

Crown attorney Paul Cooper likened Prince’s crimes to last year’s wave of liquor store thefts that prompted a public outcry and an overhaul to security measures at the province’s liquor marts.

Major retail chains in the city “are seeing an incredible upswing in this sort of behaviour… to the point even additional security isn’t doing anything to dissuade or deter any of these individuals,” Cooper said. “They know walking in they will not be interfered with, they know walking in they can grab what they want and go, and their methods become more and more brazen.”

Prince, 31, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and one count of possession of a stolen vehicle for a series of offences between October and December.

Court heard Prince visited a Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street the afternoon of Oct. 4 when he loaded a shopping basket with nearly $700 worth of feminine skin-care products and perfumes before walking past the cashier and out of the store.

Ten days later, Prince was at a Home Depot on Leila Avenue where he stuffed nearly $1,000 worth of tools into a cloth bag and walked out the contractor’s entrance without paying. Police at the store for an unrelated complaint arrested Prince and took him into custody.

Free on bail, Prince returned to the same Shoppers Drug Mart three weeks later and walked out with a staff member’s iPad and hundreds of dollars in skin care products and DVDs.

Police arrested Prince again that same day, and again he was released on bail.

Prince targeted a Home Depot on Empress Street next, walking out Dec. 10 with $600 worth of power tools.

“These aren’t even shoplifting, in the classical sense,” Cooper said. “This is simply looting.”

Police arrested Prince for a final time Christmas Day in possession of a stolen car.

In an effort to reduce the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading to the province’s already overcrowded jails, justice officials have moved in recent weeks to speed the release of offenders deemed not to be a danger to the community.

Prince’s crimes were motivated by a substance abuse problem, said defence lawyer Kathy Bueti, who urged Thompson to conclude conditions in the province’s jails amounted to “harsh and unusual circumstances” that justified sentencing Prince to time served.

Bueti said the only reliable information defence lawyers are receiving about conditions in the jails is coming from their clients.

“We still have individuals in cells with four or five others … That is not social distancing,” she said. “We have seen Crowns significantly cutting (sentencing) positions, sometimes to half of what they were seeking, because of these conditions.”

Cooper argued Prince’s “escalating” pattern of offending and seeming inability to follow court orders made him a danger to the community.

“There are great lengths being taken… to identify individuals who do not need to be in custody while the pandemic is in place,” he said. “Mr. Prince does not fall into that category.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca