A 21-year-old college student who took part in an armed robbery at a pizza restaurant three years ago has been spared a jail sentence, but his freedom is curtailed for the next two years.
Matthew Menard was 18 when he and another man robbed Mr. Topper's Pizza on Second Ave. around 1:30 am on Feb. 1, 2004.
For the first 12 months of his sentence, Menard will be under strict house arrest with his parents and can only leave his residence to attend college or his part-time job, for medical emergencies and when given permission by his probation officer. During the last 12 months, he'll be under a daily curfew between 11 pm and 6 am.
Other conditions of his sentence include him not entering any Topper's Pizza outlet and having no association with any employee of that business, abstaining from alcohol or non-prescription drugs, and he repay half of the stolen money ($285). He was also prohibited from owning or possessing weapons for 10 years.
If Menard breaks any terms of his conditional sentence, he would have to serve the remainder of the sentence in jail.
Menard and the unknown man were both wearing disguises when they entered the premises, said assistant Crown attorney Roberta Bald in an agreed statement of facts Monday.
The second male used pepper spray, a prohibited weapon, on a young female attendant. The two men stole $570 in cash.
A police investigation uncovered a balaclava worn during the robbery and a stain on that balaclava had DNA which belonged to Menard, said Bald.
In asking for the conditional sentence, defence lawyer Richard Huneault, said Menard, who had no previous criminal record, saved the court from a hearing in which he would have asked for charges to be stayed due to an unnecessarily long delay in getting these matters to trial.
He has asked for the conditional sentence to be in the range of 18 months, but Bald said "this is a very serious offence" involving violence and robbery and a sentence of two years less one day is more appropriate.
Justice Robert Del Frate of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice agreed a sentence of 24 months minus one day would be the appropriate one in this case.
Del Frate told Menard he was fortunate he wasn't going to jail. "You have chosen quite a way to become a criminal," noting Menard had no previous record, he said. "I don't know what prompted you to get involved in this...it was not a very good decision on your part."
.jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)