FILE PHOTO.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

It had been more than 32 years since Danny Charette had been convicted of committing any serious crimes before the 57-year-old robbed two North Okanagan gas stations within two days.

In neither robbery did he cover his face, and in the second attempt, the gas station clerk actually thought he was joking. He then walked away empty-handed.

Danny John Charette, born 1963, was in court today waiting to see what his fate would be for committing the second robbery.

His lawyer, Claire Mastop, told the Vernon courtroom that Charette's case had exceptional circumstances.

"He feels a great deal of remorse for everything that he put people through," Mastop said.

The robberies took place in Vernon and Lumby in November 2020.

In June last year, he was sentenced to 14 months jail for robbing a Chevron gas station in Vernon.

The robbery was described as "disorganized" as Charette had scribbled "money and all your cash" on some packaging and handed it to the gas station clerk. He then showed the clerk a make-shift pipe bomb and the clerk panicked and handed over roughly $100.

"His recollection was that he went to the store, got coffee and cigarettes and left," Mastop said. "He didn't have a recollection of... (the) robbery, he was shown the evidence and pled guilty."

The gas station security cameras captured the robbery.

He was released from prison in March and has since been living with and caring for his elderly mother who has dementia.

Two days after the first gas station robbery, Charette entered a gas station in Lumby and attempted to rob it.

"The clerk first thought he was joking, he apparently repeated himself and then the clerk noticed he had a knife," the defence lawyer said. "There was no brandishing of this knife but it was in clear view of the clerk."

Mastop said nothing was taken in the robbery and Charette's case could have been prosecuted as an attempted robbery instead.

Mastop said the Charette had been using crack cocaine at the time of both robberies and but since being arrested had been sober.

In a statement to the court, Charette's sister said the drugs "transformed" her brother into someone she barely recognized. They changed him from being kind and caring to being angry all the time.

The court heard how Charette had moved to Vernon from Prince George several years ago to care for his elderly mother.

Prior to the move he worked as a heavy equipment operator and had been married for more than 20 years prior to his divorce in 2016.

The same year as his divorce, Charette was convicted of theft and lost his licence.

While Charette does have a more serious criminal record for several break-ins, those crimes were committed in the early 1980s.

Mastop said he'd spent 32 years crime-free and argued for a sentence of house arrest with electronic monitoring.

The court also heard that if Charette had been tried for both cases at the same time, which is common, he would likely have severed a concurrent sentence.

In arguing for house arrest, Mastop pointed to the fact that there were no spaces for those suffering from dementia in Vernon care homes and the community was better served with Charette living and caring for his elderly mother than being incarcerated

The Crown saw it differently and argued that robbery was a serious offence and Charette should receive a 15- to 18-month jail sentence.

Provincial Court Judge Dennis Morgan said he needed more time to consider a sentence and adjourned the case to July.

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