BY KEITH LACEY
A Sudbury man who robbed and beat a man outside a downtown hotel six months ago was sentenced to a lengthy jail term Wednesday.
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Randall Poulin, 39, pleaded guilty to robbery after he stole a drinking buddyÂ?s ring, watch and necklace. A female accomplice also stole about $300 from the victimÂ?s during the assault.
Defence counsel Glenn Sandberg said Poulin has spent much of his adult life behind bars due to a 20-year addiction to alcohol and hard drugs.
Since getting addicted to heroin 10 years ago, Poulin has either been behind bars or getting into trouble with the law to support his serious drug addiction, said Sandberg.
Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Slater told the court this was a planned attack involving serious violence and it was fortunate the victim didnÂ?t suffer more serious injuries.
Poulin has an atrocious criminal record dating back to his teenage years and the seriousness of this offence calls out for a penitentiary term, said Slater.
However, considering Poulin has spent more than six months in pre-trial detention, the Crown is asking Poulin receive an 18-month jail sentence.
In September of 2001, Poulin was almost shot by police when he robbed a downtown store. During the robbery, he stole a lighter that looked like a handgun.
He wouldnÂ?t put the imitation handgun down and one officer fired a shot at Poulin, but no one was hurt before a second officer tackled Poulin to the ground.
Poulin was severely intoxicated at the time and didnÂ?t remember much of the robbery or being shot at, said Sandberg.
Poulin promised to get some help for his addictions at that time and the Crown gave him a lenient sentence, but the time has come for a much harsher penalty to be imposed, said Slater.
Slater and Sandberg both asked Justice Louise Gauthier to recommend Poulin serve his time at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton, which offers some of the best drug counselling programs in the country.
Gauthier said 18 months in jail was more appropriate than the 12-month sentence Sandberg was asking for.
Society must be protected from Poulin and 18 months will give this accused plenty of time to receive the counselling he obviously needs, said Gauthier.
Â?ItÂ?s now up to you Mr. Poulin,Â? said Gauthier.
The veteran judge told Poulin heÂ?s wasted much of his own life behind bars and has hurt a lot of people, but itÂ?s not too late to battle his addiction and become a contributing member of society.
Besides the jail sentence, Gauthier placed Poulin on probation for one year following his release. She also prohibited him from owning or possessing any dangerous or prohibited weapon for 10 years and ordered him to submit a DNA sample for a national crime data bank.
