‘Poster boy’ for meth habit staying in jail

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This article was published 18/05/2023 (1230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon man a judge called a “poster boy” for methamphetamine addiction will spend more time in jail for repeatedly stealing money from coin laundry machines around town.

Nicholas Werner, 34, will spend three and half more months behind bars after he pleaded guilty on Monday to break and enter, theft and fraudulently obtaining food.

The Crown and defence differed in their sentencing recommendations — prosecutors sought six and a half months of jail time, while defence counsel asked the court to impose five months.

Crown attorney Jeannelle Allard read the following evidence into the record.

On Jan. 3, Humpty’s restaurant reported to Brandon Police Service that a man had ordered $24 worth of breakfast at the diner, ate his meal, then refused to pay and tried to leave the store. Police arrested the man, Werner, for his attempted dine and dash.

Werner was released but ran into trouble again a month later for breaking into laundry machines at a Richmond Avenue apartment complex.

The woman who reported the crime was the owner of a company that manages several properties. She used video surveillance footage to identify a suspect she recognized as a repeat offender who had broken into laundry machines at her other properties. However, police couldn’t find Werner at the time.

On March 2, police found Werner when they caught him red-handed stealing money from laundry machines at the Super 8 motel on Highland Avenue. When police were called to the motel, they found him in the laundry room inserting a long metal object into one of the machines, attempting to steal coins from inside.

Werner was found with $145 in loonies that he’d taken from the machines. He was also caught with the tools he’d used to retrieve the coins — a flexible extender with a magnet taped to it and multiple screwdrivers.

In addition to the six and half months of jail time, Allard asked the court to place Werner on a two-year probation order given his prior property offences.

Werner’s lawyer Andrew Synyshyn asked that the court sentence his client to a fine and restitution for the dine and dash at Humpty’s but agreed with the Crown on the sentence for the Super 8 laundry break-in, calling it a “flagrant attempt” to steal coins from the hotel’s laundry machines.

Though Werner has been before the court numerous times, he grew up in a supportive home with his parents who held professional jobs. He studied engineering at university and had a stable life until he became addicted to painkillers. That addiction led him to methamphetamine, Synyshyn said.

“He has completely resorted to stealing in order to support himself and his habits,” Synyshyn said, adding that Werner has been without stable housing for the past year.

Werner, who appeared in court by video from Brandon Correctional Centre, said he paid Humpty’s for his breakfast the day after his arrest because he was embarrassed. He said he wants to leave the drug scene and make his family proud of him instead of being the “black sheep.”

“I’m looking forward to an opportunity to try to change my life and better myself and get back to being a person that I know I can be and that I have been in the past,” he said.

When delivering her sentence, Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said she has seen Werner before the court previously for the same offences, and the story of an addiction that began with painkillers is a familiar one.

“This is yet another sad story from where I sit in terms of another life spiraled out of control quite quickly as a result of addiction,” Hewitt-Michta said.

Ultimately, the judge sentenced Werner to six months in jail and supervised probation with conditions to not attend Humpty’s restaurant or the Super 8.

The judge also ordered Werner to pay $24 restitution to Humpty’s, provided the restaurant hadn’t already received payment as Werner indicated.

As Werner has already served two and a half months in jail, he still has another three and a half months to go before he is released.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @geena_mortfield