Botched robbery in Cawston yields jail time

The Victoria man who attempted to rob a Cawston marijuana dispensary before leading police on a high-speed chase near Osoyoos is spending the next year in jail.

Christopher Neil Spinney, 31, pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery, Friday in Penticton provincial court.

Spinney and another man, Christopher Wood, arrived in a stolen car at the Amber Light Compassion Society in Cawston on July 31, 2017 around noon.

The two men entered the store and were quickly denied service. Staff described them as “tweaking,” and acting erratic.

Spinney returned to the store shortly after getting kicked out and attempted to grab the dispensary’s cash box.

“(Spinney) was saying ‘where’s the money? Where’s the money? while holding a corkscrew in his hand,” said Crown counsel Ann Lerchs, recounting the events at Spinney’s sentencing hearing.

He and an employee fought over the cash box and the tussle sent the money flying.

One female employee attempted to hit Spinney with a fire extinguisher during the altercation, Lerchs said, and Spinney attacked her with a brass corkscrew causing minor injuries to her left arm and the back of her head.

Spinney and Wood fled in the stolen station wagon, which Lerchs said was also sporting stolen license plates.

The vehicle was located by police east of Cawston and the driver did not pull over, speeding up to140 km/h and driving into the oncoming lane. Police did not pursue and set up a spike belt near Osoyoos on Highway 3, at Vineyard Road.

The vehicle hit the spike belt and popped two tires, continuing to drive, albeit slowly.

Spinney and Wood ditched the vehicle at 89th Street and Highway 97 and police caught up to Spinney on foot. He resisted arrest and it took three officers to get him in handcuffs.

Lerchs sought a sentence of 2.5 to three years, while Spinney’s defence attorney Tim Russell, argued for two years of jail time.

Russell said Spinney’s history of property crime was non-violent and it fed methamphetamine and heroin addictions. He was sent “spiralling” after the overdose death of his girlfriend in Victoria which led to the “road trip” to the mainland.

“It’s a completely unplanned unsophisticated attempt,” Russell said, adding that Spinney had become a positive role model as an inmate, participating in programs and visiting once weekly with both a religious guide and a indigenous elder — though he is not of indigenous descent.

Spinney told the court he was going to take it upon himself to send letters of apology to the victims.

“I’m deeply sorry for my actions. One good thing that came out of it was it probably saved my life, going to jail,” Spinney said.

Judge Greg Koturbash gave Spinney a two-year jail sentence, minus just over eight months of pre-trial custody with credit.