Woman jailed for theft from Needs store

Former employee conspired with friend to steal money and cigarettes

A former employee of the Needs Convenience Store on Brackley Point Road was sentenced Monday in provincial court to serve three months in jail for theft and conspiracy to commit theft.

Charlene Acorn received identical sentences on each of the two charges against her.

She will serve her sentence on an intermittent basis on the front end of each week.

Upon completion of the custodial portion of her sentence, Acorn will spend 18 months on probation.

While on probation she must make restitution of $704.50, half the value of the cash and cigarettes taken during the theft.

She must also pay $200 in victims of crime surcharges.

Chief Provincial Court Judge John Douglas banned Acorn from any Needs Convenience Store.

Douglas also prohibited the accused, who is four months pregnant, from consuming any alcohol or taking any drugs not prescribed by her doctor until after the birth of her child.

A letter of apology is to be written to her former employer.

The Crown had asked for a sentence in the range of four to six months.

Douglas said he would have imposed a sentence in that range were it not for the fact that Acorn is pregnant and has full-time employment.

Acorn’s defence counsel had asked for a conditional sentence that she could have served in the community under house arrest.

But Douglas denied that request because of the serious nature of the offence and the fact Acorn’s actions constituted a breach of trust.

Evidence presented during her trial indicated Acorn had conspired with another woman to steal a quantity of money from the store and make it look like a robbery.

That woman, who has pleaded guilty but is yet to be sentenced, showed up on the day in question, received a quantity of money and cigarettes from Acorn and left the store.

There was an understanding the money would be divided up later.

The court was told Acorn needed the money to pay off a debt.

Acorn was not co-operative with police in their investigation.

She was not co-operative with probation services either as they attempted to prepare a pre-sentence report for the court.

The Crown noted that Acorn has not accepted responsibility for her actions and expressed no remorse.

It was also noted that Acorn had misled police, prompting police to divert scarce human resources to investigate the alleged robbery.

Defence counsel noted that Acorn is making moves in the right direction now.

She has stopped using drugs and alcohol and wishes to receive counselling.

Acorn said she was sorry, that she wasn’t really thinking at the time.

She told the court she’s in a better relationship now and wants to be a good mother to her soon-to-be-born child.