Man charged in connection to robbery, forced confinement pleads not guilty

One of three people accused of forcibly confining and robbing a local woman pled not guilty to the charges against him, setting up a court date for March 20.

Matthew Babitzke, 30, is slated to be tried by a provincial court judge.

He appeared Thursday in Medicine Hat Provincial Court via closed-circuit TV from the local remand centre.

He faces charges of robbery, unlawful confinement and possession of stolen property, after an Oct. 24 incident where a woman was held against her will overnight in an attempt to extort her.

Babitzke’s mother, Theresa, faces charges of robbery, unlawful confinement, extortion, assault with a weapon, possession for the purposes of trafficking and possession of stolen property, in connection with the incident.

Her next appearance is a scheduled bail hearing Nov. 27.

The third accused, Amanda Kaye, is charged with robbery, unlawful confinement, extortion and assault with a weapon, as well as breaches in connection with other charges.

Babitzke pled guilty Thursday to 10 charges he faces from separate incidents dating back to April 22, including possession of methamphetamine, fraud under $5,000, possessing an unauthorized weapon, failure to appear in court and possessing stolen credit cards.

Defence lawyer Rob Robbenhaar cited Babitzke’s lack of prior criminal convictions and history of drug addiction as mitigating factors.

Judge Gordon Krinke ordered Babitzke to pay $285 in restitution for the fraud conviction, in addition to a sentence of 10 days in jail, for which Babitzke was credited with time served.

However, he will remain in jail, as he was denied bail at his previous court appearance due to his failure to appear charges.