Wife of hair salon bandit gets house arrest

COBOURG - A Cobourg woman who helped her husband commit a drug-fuelled crime spree, including thefts in Peerborough and the City of Kawartha Lakes, was sentenced to four months of house arrest.

Cindy Cooper, 43, appeared in a Cobourg courtroom on Monday, Jan. 8 where Justice Stuart Konyer sentenced Cooper to a four-month conditional sentence to be served under house arrest after pleading guilty to breaking and entering, in relation to a series of residential and commercial break-ins that occurred between March and August.

Konyer explained during that time, Cindy was on the record as surety for her husband, Gerald, 47, who was released from custody on bail from an unrelated criminal matter.

While Gerald was on bail and serving his own stint of house arrest, Cindy helped her husband break into Genesis Hair Studio in Port Hope, court heard.

“You made a pledge to the court to supervise Gerald Cooper. You were his surety,” the justice reminded.

“The conditional sentence is a jail sentence you are being permitted to serve in the community.”

In early December, Gerald was sentenced to six years in jail for taking responsibility for 38 indictable offences, including 13 break and enters into residences and 23 commercial break and enters as well as a single count of mischief and theft of property.

Court heard between March and August, Gerald committed breakins of 36 different residences and small businesses throughout Northumberland County, Peterborough, Hastings, the City of Kawartha Lakes and Durham Region.

Gerald was caught “fairly red handed” during a commercial breakin and took responsibility for the series of crimes.

The crimes reached a total value of loss from theft at $113,672.17.

“That’s not damage to property,” Crown attorney Mark Moorcroft previously said. “That’s simply loss from theft.”

In September, Cobourg police arrested and accused Gerald and Cindy alongside Patrick Quinlin, 40, of Cobourg, of break and enter, and theft.

Gerald took responsibility and was charged with more than 65 offences, while Cindy and Quinlin were each charged with one count of break and enter.

Konyer added an additional 12 months probation following Cindy’s house arrest; a DNA order; order not to contact Quinlin as well as six months to pay a $200 victim surcharge fee.