Man receives prison term

A 20-year-old Regina man was handed a 30-month prison sentence on Friday for his role in the armed robbery of a convenience store a week ago.

During a Friday appearance at Regina Provincial Court, Rodney Kyle Brass pleaded guilty to armed robbery and an unrelated charge of possession of marijuana. After hearing submissions, Judge Murray Hinds agreed to impose the 30-month term that was jointly proposed by Crown and defence counsel.

The robbery charge relates to an incident from March 16 in which several males robbed a convenience store on the 3500 block of Dewdney Avenue while one was armed with a knife and the other — Brass — an axe.

Two of the males approached the clerk and, while brandishing the weapons, demanded cash, cigarettes and scratch tickets.

Someone managed to call police, who arrived quickly and spotted some fleeing suspects, tracking them by canine to a nearby residence. Four males were arrested there, including Brass.

Three others — males aged 15, 16, and 17 — remain before the court with their charges. They can’t be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The drug charge predates the robbery by a couple of months. Court heard Brass was serving an intermittent sentence and, on Jan. 12, his cell was searched. Jail staff located a balloon containing, among other items, a little more than five grams of marijuana.

Defence lawyer Gene Josephson said his client regrets his actions, one of the reasons he chose to plead guilty and be sentenced rather than apply for bail.

Josephson said Brass — who was drinking before the robbery — spent time in foster care as a child, but lived more recently with relatives. Brass and his girlfriend are currently expecting their first child — something Hinds suggested Brass use as incentive to change.

“If you’re going to be a part of your child’s life, you’re going to have to decide on a better path,” the judge said.

Hinds suggested Brass think about how scared people in the store must have been during the incident.

Convenience store robberies ordinarily attract a minimum threeyear sentence in Saskatchewan, but Brass got a break in part because his early guilty pleas saved store staff from having to testify against him.