Bank robber sentenced to seven years in prison

A 29-year old B.C. man who robbed a Lethbridge bank and several others in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Shaun Christopher Cornish was sentenced Tuesday in British Columbia Supreme Court in Kamloops, B.C., where he was given three years credit for time spent behind bars since his arrest in January 2015, leaving him four years to serve on his sentence.

Cornish robbed his first bank in Princeton, B.C., in December 2014, which was followed by robberies in the Alberta communities of Lethbridge, Claresholm and High River. He also robbed financial institutions in Swift Current, Sask., and in the B.C. communities of Vernon, Merritt and Aldergrove.

Cornish was finally arrested at a motel in Grande Prairie shortly after he held up a Dawson Creek bank on Jan. 28, 2015.

The robbery at the Lethbridge bank occurred Jan. 13, 2015, when Cornish entered the business, approached a teller and, while brandishing a firearm, demanded money. No one was hurt during the incident.

In the Claresholm robbery three days later, he entered a bank, showed he had a black pistol and demanded money from the teller before fleeing.

Court was told that in every case Cornish was somewhat disguised and entered the bank near closing time. He also used a fake firearm in all but one of the robberies.

During sentencing, court heard Cornish, who didn’t have any previous criminal convictions, began robbing banks out of desperation after accumulating $60,000 in debt from gambling, alcohol and drug addictions. He also lost his job with a Calgary-based company.