WESTLOCK – A former Westlock Sobeys employee who walked out of the store with a bevy of items without paying and told police “he had no choice but to steal the food”, faces a suspended sentence that includes probation and community-service hours.
In Westlock Court of Justice Aug. 30, David Allan Lee pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 and received a 12-month suspended sentence from Justice Vaughn Myers. As part of the joint-sentence submission from Crown prosecutor Brett Grierson and duty counsel Gail Gerhart, Lee will serve the next year under a probation order that includes conditions like addiction counselling, perform 15 hours of community service within the next six months and is banned from Sobeys.
While Grierson acknowledged Lee’s criminal record included jail time and fines for crimes ranging from break and enters to assaults, plus “other property crimes”, they landed on a suspended sentence in the hope it will address the man’s “homelessness, addictions and poverty” and “an inability to afford any fines.”
“This theft is a different one from the ones in your past as you stole from your past employers so it involves a breach of trust and that often brings jail,” said Justice Myers.
Grierson told court that on May 3, 2023, Lee left the store via the staff exit with two packages each of bacon and steak, along with a package of hamburger, fabric softener and a number of other items — Grierson did not provide a value for the merchandise taken. Store ownership informed Westlock RCMP of the theft the following day and provided them surveillance footage, while Lee told court that he hasn’t worked at the store in four years.
“He admitted to the theft and told police he had no choice but to steal the food,” said Grierson. “The accused is unemployed, has no fixed residence and has challenges with addictions, allegedly.”
