Threatening store employee leads to ban
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A 30-year-old man is barred from attending Brandon’s Circle K convenience store for the next 12 months after he threatened to kill one of the store’s employees in May.
Sebastian Benn is no stranger to such bans, having recently been banned from local businesses including Shoppers Drug Mart, BMO, Real Canadian Superstore, Velvet Dip, Days Inn, McDonald’s and the Clarion Hotel due to various charges.
This latest incident took place on May 4 around 4:30 a.m., when a Circle K employee caught Benn rummaging around in the store’s freezer for some ice cream bars.
When the employee approached Benn to ask him if he needed some help, the 30-year-old responded by saying “You know who I am. I’ll kill you,” according to Crown attorney Caroline Lacey.
While Benn successfully fled the premises with some stolen ice cream bars, police managed to locate and arrest him several hours later.
During sentencing on Thursday, defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn echoed comments he made in March, when his client was convicted for chronic loitering at the Days Inn hotel.
Synyshyn explained that Benn’s repeated anti-social behaviour is being fuelled by his status as a transient individual with significant mental health and addiction issues.
Because of these ongoing problems, Benn has been reported to police around 27 times this year for lingering in public buildings and apartment complexes.
In March 2022, Benn also pleaded guilty to mischief, resisting arrest and various other charges that stemmed from a series of incidents at local businesses, resulting in him being banned from these locations.
However, Synyshyn told the court that his client is planning to contact Brandon Housing First to help him deal with these personal issues.
Housing First is an organization that aims to provide people experiencing chronic and episodic homelessness with housing options as quickly as possible.
Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta was pleased to hear that Benn is serious about turning his life around through Housing First, although she told the 30-year-old that there is still a lot of hard work ahead of him given his track record.
“You really have to accept all the help that you can find in terms of dealing with the mental health and the addiction issues,” the judge said.
“It’s a shame to see you going in and out of custody the way you are, and I think it’s really not necessary.”
Hewitt-Michta ultimately accepted the Crown and defence’s joint recommendation for Benn, sentencing him to time served for the Circle K incident, plus a year of unsupervised probation during which he cannot attend the store located at 855 First St. or contact the employee he threatened on May 4.
Benn, who appeared for sentencing virtually from the Brandon Correctional Centre, declined to comment.
» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson