Victim confronts bike thief

A Charlottetown man who stole a bike and got into an altercation with its owner as she tried to take pictures of him was recently fined $700.

Justin Wendell Gillespie, 23, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to the theft.

During the proceedings, the court heard Gillespie got into an argument while at a work site, left the site and then stole a bike he saw nearby. The court was told that when Gillespie realized what he had done, he decided to return the bike.

Crown attorney Nathan Beck said that's when the victim and her daughter found Gillespie and tried to take pictures of him.

Beck said Gillespie grabbed the victim’s wrist and knocked her cellphone out of her hand.

Before hearing his sentence, Gillespie said he wanted to apologize to the court, to Orr, the victim and the victim’s family.

Gillespie, who had a prior criminal record, described his actions as unintelligent.

“I know I can do better and I will, moving forward,” he said. Orr said the matter before her showed how dangerous situations like it can be.

“This could have been a whole lot worse,” she said.

Orr told Gillespie that he seems to be making some progress, adding she was impressed with him working and paying off almost $12,000 in restitution.

She also said the next time Gillespie has a fight with someone he should remove himself from the situation and have a talk with himself.

Don’t go down the road and do something stupid, she said. “For goodness sake.”