Makeshift bat leads to 12-month sentence

A man was sentenced to one year in jail on Monday for carrying a homemade bat wrapped in barbed wire in Brandon’s Superstore while simultaneously pocketing merchandise.

“Confrontational language and behaviour, weapons and violence are depressingly common behaviours from shoplifters and have added a level of stress to these employees’ day-to-day employment,” Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup told Judge Patrick Sullivan.

Keith Stuart was acquitted of robbery and instead convicted of possessing a weapon dangerous to public peace and theft under $5,000 after standing trial in Brandon’s provincial court.

On June 25, 2024, Stuart was walking the aisles of Real Canadian Superstore while holding an improvised bat wrapped in barbed wire, the court heard.

Lonstrup said that while doing so, he was “stealing watches and sunglasses and (was) clearly in the act of trying to steal more.”

A store employee walked up to Stuart — unaware of the items in his pockets — and told him he couldn’t have the weapon in the store and that he had to leave, Lonstrup said.

“That is the moment when the accused said, ‘It’s not a weapon unless I use it.’”

After Stuart’s trial, Sullivan accepted the evidence that Stuart twirled the weapon in his hands while making eye contact with the employee, which Lonstrup described as “threatening gestures.”

Stuart ultimately left the store, and police immediately arrested him outside. During his arrest, police found two stolen watches in his pocket and a pair of stolen sunglasses in his possession.

He said the key missing element that resulted in Stuart being acquitted of robbery is the “extortive element,” which means the victim(s) know they are being stolen from while the offender makes threats of force or violence through either gestures or words.

Just because the employee was unaware that he had merchandise on him didn’t make the offence any less serious, the Crown said.

Lonstrup said retail theft has grown in both scale and seriousness and highlighted the impact it has on employees.

“They receive threats, both gestures and spoken words, sometimes with weapons and sometimes with just plain open violence.”

He referenced the victim’s impact statement, in which he said Stuart’s comments, gestures and eye contact made him and his family afraid.

“When he leaves his car at night at the end of a shift, he’s wondering what awaits him … He shouldn’t have to be thinking that,” he said.

While Lonstrup accepted that the thefts were low in value, he said the accompanying behaviour was aggravating. He asked the court to impose a sentence of 18 months for the weapon charge and a concurrent 30 days for the theft, followed by two years of supervised probation.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison described the Crown’s proposed sentence as “oppressive” and “crushing.”

“He’s not responsible for all of the shoplifting going on. It’s the economy. It’s the drugs, the crystal meth. We know that because we deal with it all the time in court.”

He said Stuart has mental health and addiction issues himself, but argued it’s something he could address while in the community.

Harrison asked for a sentence in the range of time already served, which is the equivalent of 105 days, to a short period of custody going forward.

He said Stuart should not receive a robbery sentence since that’s not what he was convicted of and pointed out that the offending wasn’t pre-planned and he didn’t use the weapon.

Sullivan said the presence of the weapon is “very concerning” and it impacts the employees and shoppers who are also in the store. He believed further time in custody was necessary and sentenced Stuart to 12 months in jail followed by 18 months of supervised probation.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com