THE COURTS
Truro taxi driver robbed at knife point receives restitution
TRURO, N.S. — A Truro taxi driver who was robbed at knifepoint last July was so shaken by the experience that it cost her about two weeks’ income.
The woman, who operates her own cab, told provincial court on Tuesday that she didn’t work at all for the seven days immediately following the robbery.
“And then there was sporadic days where I felt (too) sick to go in after that,” Young said, during a sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
She had only been driving the cab for a few weeks when the robbery occurred.
Two Millbrook men involved in the robbery were each ordered to pay restitution of $725, for a total of $1,450, after income deductions were factored into the equation.
Frederick William Fitzpatrick, 20, whose addresses were listed as Fern Drive in Millbrook and Carter Road in Brookfield, pled guilty to committing robbery while armed with a knife. He received a suspended sentence, two years’ probation and was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
Defence attorney David Mahoney said Fitzpatrick was intoxicated by alcohol and the prescription drug clonazepam when the robbery occurred and later took full responsibility for the crime.
“He was not operating with a clear mind,” Mahoney told the court.
Fitzpatrick also provided a letter of apology to the victim.
He pled guilty to breaching a previous curfew.
His accomplice, Matthew Phillips, 26, of Fern Drive, who pled guilty to accessory after the fact, was given an 18-month conditional sentence. That sentence is to be served after Phillips completes a five-month jail term on other assault offences.
The conditional sentence involves full house arrest for the first 12 months and a curfew of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the remaining six months. Both men are also prohibited from possessing or using firearms for 10 years.
They are prohibited from consuming alcohol or other intoxicating substances or being in establishments were alcohol is sold as a primary form of business during their sentencing periods.