A Kamloops man who beat an employee at a dollar store has been ordered to spend nearly three months in prison.
Duncan Rennie, 35, was sentenced Friday in Kamloops provincial court after pleading guilty to charges of assault, theft under $5,000 and breach. He appeared via video from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.
Court heard Rennie attacked a loss-prevention officer at the Dollarama in Lansdowne Village on April 25.
Crown prosecutor Bryan Pankoff said Rennie became aggressive with the man when a woman he was with tripped while attempting to flee with stolen merchandise. Rennie accused the loss-prevention officer of assaulting the woman, and he became violent.
Pankoff said Rennie swung as many as eight times at the loss-prevention officer. He also kicked, connecting on at least one attempt with the victim’s right knee.
Court heard the man had trouble walking for some time after the incident.
The theft and breach charges to which Rennie pleaded guilty stem from separate incidents — he stole $20 worth of candy from the 7-Eleven on Eighth Street on Oct. 3, 2022, and he failed to report to his probation officer last fall.
Pankoff sought a 90-day jail sentence while defence lawyer Murray Armstrong suggested something in the 60-day range.
Armstrong said Rennie is a carpenter who has good job prospects, but his addiction to heroin and crystal meth has been holding him back.
“That’s certainly been a major factor over the past few years and was in full effect during [these offences],” Armstrong said.
"However, to his credit, he has been clean since shortly after the incident last April. He managed to get off drugs and has been clean ever since.”
Provincial court Judge Nancy Phillips sentenced Rennie to 54 days time served for the assault and the breach, and 30 days of new time for the theft from 7-Eleven.
Once he is released from jail, Rennie will be bound by a probation order for 12 months barring him from visiting the 7-Eleven on Eighth Street and the Dollarama on Lansdowne Street, and from having any contact with the store’s loss-prevention officer.
Rennie is due back in court next week on an unrelated charge alleging he breached his probation in Revelstoke.
