HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-24, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013.
Students to collect food in
Blyth on Halloween night
Woman to pay restitution after multiple fraud chargesContinued from page 9police questioned Beattie,Grant said, she fingered
Rochelle Miller, a friend she
said was staying with her.
After further investigation,
police discovered that Miller
did not exist.
Grant said police were led
back to Beattie’s apartment
after a conversation with her
ex-boyfriend, who told police
that all of the items they were
seeking were at her
apartment.
After being questioned a
second time, Grant said,
Beattie admitted that Miller
didn’t exist, telling them she
had a problem.
Upon recovering the items,
police told the various
business owners that none of
the items Beattie had obtained
were resalable and could not
be returned to the businesses.
Grant filed a number of
documents with Brophy and
the court, detailing that
Beattie has been struggling
with a number of mental
health issues for years, which
she has been taking steps to
address.
She suggested a penalty of
a conditional discharge with a
12-month probation term.
There would also be a
condition that she not attend
any of the stores she
defrauded earlier this year.
Brophy said he felt Beattie
should pay some form of
restitution, but because she
could not work, it would not
cover the $3,148.81 that had
been lost.
He decided on $40 a month
for the next 20 months, which
would total $800.
He also increased the
probation term to 18 months,
rather than Grant’s
suggested 12 months, saying
that probation would
just be one more support
system to perhaps help
Beattie along.
Brophy told Beattie that the
situation was a “big mess”
where she “did a whole lot of
things wrong” but that hewished her good luck in thefuture.
ASSAULT
Lawrence Machan of
Brussels pled not guilty to
assault with a weapon, but
guilty to assault, in
connection with an incident in
Brussels on July 19.
Grant said the police were
called to a Brussels home just
after 7:30 p.m. when a man
reported being assaulted by
Machan.
Grant said the man, Machan
and a third man were all
drinking around his kitchen
table when Machan said the
victim owed him some
money. The argument
escalated and the victim told
Machan he couldn’t have any
more beer.
It was at this time, Grant
said, that Machan took a full
beer can and hit the man in
the head twice, causing a
large cut, which began
bleeding immediately.
Subsequently, Grant said,
Machan grabbed the man by
his hair and struck him in the
face with a closed fist several
more times.
She said that at no time did
the victim fight back. Machan
then threw a chair across the
room and left, Grant said.
Police attended the scene,
Grant said, eventually making
their way to Machan who,
when questioned about the
incident, said his only mistake
was not hitting the victim
harder.
Through Duty Counsel
Lynn Johnston, Machan told
Brophy that while he
acknowledged hitting the
man, he did not remember
hitting him with the beer can.
He said he remembered
holding the beer can in one
hand, while hitting the man
with the other.
Grant suggested a
suspended sentence with a
12-month term of probation,
which she said was
essentially a joint submission
by the two parties. Machanwould also be ordered to nothave any contact with the
victim during that time.
Brophy agreed and sentenced
Machan accordingly.
FAILURE TO APPEAR
Theresa McTavish of
Hanover, formerly of
Wingham, pled guilty to
failing to appear in court,
stemming from an appearance
scheduled for Nov. 22, 2012.
Grant said that McTavish
did have a criminal record,
but that it was unrelated. She
suggested a $200 fine and a
12-month term of probation.
McTavish’s lawyer, Phil
Cornish, suggested that the
fine was sufficient, but asked
for a six-month term of
probation.
Brophy agreed with neither,
instead deciding to impose a
$200 fine, giving her
three months to pay,
and no probation.
A charge of
possession of stolen
property was
withdrawn by Grant,
she said, because her
only witness moved
out of the province.
Grant said there
was still the
remaining issue from
the charge regarding
the property and its
return. Cornish said
there was a small
discrepancy in the list
of the items, saying
McTavish would
return all of them,
with the exception of
a “reindeer rug”
which was a gift and
should not have been
included in the list.
Brophy ordered the
return of the property,
with the exception of
the “reindeer rug,
whatever that is,” he
said.
POSSESSION
Amanda Doupe of
Elmwood, formerly
of Listowel, pled
guilty to possession of crystalmeth in connection with apolice traffic stop on June 1.
Grant said that police
stopped a pick-up truck in
Howick just after 2:30 a.m.
Doupe was a passenger in the
truck in which police
observed several tools
associated with break-ins.
Police immediately placed
the three people in the truck
under arrest. Upon searching
Doupe, Grant said, police
found a half gram of crystal
meth in her purse.
Doupe contested that it was
less than a half gram, but later
accepted the weight, as Grant
said the drugs had been tested
and weighed by police after
the seizure.
Brophy then ordered Doupe
to pay a fine of $500 in
connection with the incident.
She has six months to pay.ASSAULTJodie Drover of Cambridge
pled guilty to one charge of
assault after police observed
an incident between Drover
and her then-boyfriend in
Morris-Turnberry on July 19.
Grant said that while on
general patrol, police
observed a car pulled over to
the side of the road in Morris-
Turnberry. The officer pulled
in behind the car to
investigate the reason for the
car being stopped and
observed Drover, who was in
the driver’s seat, pushing a
man in the passenger seat.
Grant said the officer
walked up to the car and saw
that Drover was pushing the
man, trying to get him out of
the car.
The victim was not wearing
a shirt, Grant said, so theofficer could see several redmarks on his chest.
Upon further questioning,
Drover said she had punched
the man in his chest after an
argument, which began the
day before on the beach in
Port Albert, had escalated.
The officer laid charges,
despite the victim denying the
fact that anything had
happened.
Duty Counsel Johnston said
that Drover is no longer with
the man and that they have
gone their separate ways.
Brophy felt it appropriate to
give Drover an absolute
discharge, due to the nature of
the incident. He also waived
the victim surcharge after
hearing Drover say that
she didn’t currently have a
job.
Approximately 25 high school-aged
teenagers are hoping to take full advantage
of Blyth’s generosity this Halloween for
the benefit of the North Huron Community
Food Share.
On Oct. 31, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.,
the Blyth Christian Reformed Church
youth group will be going door to door and
collecting non-perishable food items for
the Food Share, rather than the event’s
customary candy.
The group is comprised of youth from
several local churches. The initiative began
at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School,
says Pastor Ernest Dow of Living Water
Christian Fellowship, and he hoped to
build on that momentum in the Blyth
community.
In an interview with The Citizen, Dow
said he had been researching the Food
Share and saw that need has been rising
consistently this year.
In May, 2013, the Food Share fed 366
people. To put that into perspective, Dow
estimates that is approximately the main
floor capacity seating of Blyth’s Memorial
Hall. When he thought of everyone in
need, sitting in the hall, he found the
figures staggering.
There is a need, he says, and youth from
in and around Blyth are hoping to step up
to fill it.
On Halloween night, the group will be
collecting cans of fruit or vegetables, cans
of meat or fish, peanut butter, rice,
macaroni and cheese, and pasta and pasta
sauces.
For more information on the initiative,
call Blyth Christian Reformed Church
Pastor Gary Van Leeuwen at 519-523-
4743 or Dow at 519-523-4848. For
more information on the Food Share,
visit its website at www.nhfoodshare.ca
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It was a graveyard smash!
Thrill-seekers and scare-searchers found a new home over the weekend as the 11th
annual Blyth Witches Walk turned the Blyth Greenway Trail into a spooky scene.
Regardless of whether it was vampires, werewolves or these three grim-looking
gentlemen, visitors could find something that frightened them and did the Monster
Mash along the normally serene and peaceful trail. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
BUY? SELL? TRY CLASSIFIED