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May 19, 2016 - 2:16 PM
PENTICTON - A Penticton judge continues to respond to increasing crime rates in the city by handing down harsher sentences.
Sheldon Edward Evans got a nine month jail sentence today, May 19, after pleading guilty to two counts of break and enter.
The offences occurred on April 7 and April 22, 2015, when Evans was caught by police breaking into the Penticton and District Society for Community Living property on West Industrial Avenue in the first instance, and the Barley Mill Brew Pub in the second.
Evans was free on bail when he committed the Barley Mill break in.
The sentence handed down by Penticton Provincial Court Judge Gregory Koturbash was well above Crown Prosecutor Vern Frolick’s request for a six month sentence, or defence lawyer Robert Maxwell’s desire for a conditional sentence served at home.
Judge Koturbash cited Penticton crime statistics for January and February of this year, noting 35 business break and enters occurred in the city during that time.
“Given the current climate in Penticton, a sentence of nine months is appropriate,” he said.
Evans, who is 30, and has no prior criminal record, will also be subject to 18 months probation upon his release, with conditions to stay away from the Barley Mill Brew Pub, and the Penticton and District Society for Community Living.
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