Laundry room crook handed 300-day term

A man who broke into two different apartment laundry rooms in Penticton to feed his addiction plans to leave B.C. after serving his time.

Kurtis Clint Kenney, 23, pleaded guilty in provincial court Thursday to two counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit an offence, one count of assault with a weapon, and two breaches of bail orders.

Court heard Kenney was caught May 7, 2017, by a resident of a Skaha Place apartment building as he tried to pry open coin-operated laundry machines with a crowbar.

Startled when the building manager entered, Kenney dropped his crowbar and fled on a bike, but not before the building manager was able to snap a photograph of Kenney.

Ten days later, Kenney was caught again trying to break into another laundry room, this time on Scott Avenue, by a resident who heard a loud bang outside his apartment and followed Kenney.

The resident avoided getting hit several times by the hammer Kenney was using to attempt to break into the laundry room. Police arrived and arrested Kenney with 0.1 grams of suspected methamphetamine in his pocket.

After his release on bail in November 2017, Kenney was twice caught by police breaching curfew conditions. He has been in custody since December 2017.

Defence counsel Michael Patterson said his client has been using his time behind bars to seek help for the addictions that “bedevil” him and intends to relocate to Alberta and seek treatment after his release from jail.

“These offences, trying to get a few coins out of a laundry machine, are those of a highly addicted person because you’re not going to get a lot of money out of there,” said Judge Gail Sinclair. “That’s what addicts do.”

Sinclair agreed with the joint sentencing submission of 300 days jail between defence and Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich.

With pretrial custody credit included, Kenney has already served 287 days of his sentence.