BY KEITH LACEY
A young man from Newfoundland who threatened to stab a Wal-Mart security guard with a hyperdermic needle after stealing items was given a 23-month jail sentence Friday.
Mark Blackwood, 21, has, because of his addiction to prescription drugs, managed to accumulate a ?horrendous criminal record? with more than 80 convictions, including two dozen for property offences. He pleaded guilty to robbery and numerous breaches of court orders.
Blackwood?s criminal behaviour has continued since he moved to Greater Sudbury to be near his mother several months ago. He was set to finish a two-month sentence for theft Monday.
Blackwood, whose previous longest stint behind bars was only three months despite his terrible record, buried his head in his hands and cried after Justice Guy Mahaffy imposed the long jail sentence.
?This young man is nothing but a professional criminal,? said Mahaffy.
If not for Blackwood?s age, his admission of guilt indicated remorse and avoided authorities in Newfoundland having to try him there, Blackwood would likely be looking at a penitentiary term, said Mahaffy.
The evening of Jan. 23, 2004 in Mount Pearl, just outside St. John?s, Blackwood was caught on video stealing 21 DVD?s from a Wal-Mart outlet.
When confronted by a store security guard, Blackwood pulled out a hyperdermic needle and threatened to use it against the guard if he got closer.
Defence counsel Alex Toffoli said this is a sad case where an addiction to dangerous prescription drugs has resulted in a young life being wasted over the past several years.
Blackwood is addicted to Oxycontin, the highly-addictive prescription drug known as ?hillbilly heroin? that has become such a problem across North America over the past several years.
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