Woman sentenced to prison over $30 bottle of wine

Samantha Faye Toope was extremely intoxicated when she walked into a liquor store earlier this year and threatened the clerk with a container of bear spray.

But drunkeness is no excuse under the Criminal Code, and the starting point for store-type robberies is three years in prison, and the time can go up or down depending on the circumstances.

In Toope’s case, because she used bear spray instead of a more lethal weapon, and because she pleaded guilty to robbery, her sentence was reduced Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court to two years in prison.

It’s unfortunate, Crown prosecutor Vaughan Hartigan pointed out, that Toope must go to prison “over a $30 bottle of rum.”

Hartigan told court that Toope, 20, walked into the liquor store about 7 p.m. March 25 and waited around until customers left. She then chose a bottle of liquor and approached the till as though she was going to pay. But instead of money, she pulled out a can of bear spray and warned the clerk not to approach her or she would spray him.

As she walked out the door she discharged the spray, anyway, and had to warn the clerk again when he attempted to follow her.

Defence lawyer Tracy Hembroff said it’s “highly regrettable” that Toope’s poor judgment while intoxicated resulted in a serious criminal offence.

She said her client, who has a young son, wants to serve her time in a federal prison, which offers counselling and rehabilitation programs not available in provincial jails.

Judge Sylvia Oishi agreed with the joint recommendation for a two-year prison sentence, and noted Toope not only planned the robbery but took a weapon, then “waited until the coast was clear.”

She explained the jail starting point for convenient store-type robberies is three years because such businesses are vulnerable to holdups.

In addition to her prison sentence, Toope must submit a sample of her DNA for the National DNA Databank.

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