‘Perfect storm’ keeps woman who robbed gas bar with fake gun from prison

Article content

SARNIA – Typically, robbing a gas bar with a weapon, even if it is a fake one, earns a trip to prison.

But the case involving Denise McKaig was a difficult one, a Sarnia prosecutor said.

“This is not a straightforward case,” assistant Crown attorney Michael Donald told a judge.

Justice Mark Poland agreed, calling it unusual.

“This convergence of complicating factors all came together in what amounts to effectively a perfect storm,” he said recently during McKaig’s sentencing hearing.

Article content

That perfect storm allowed McKaig, 47, the chance to serve her 1.5-year sentence at home in Sarnia instead of behind bars. Poland said of all the sentencing principles Ontario judges have to consider, the one involving proportionality – the circumstances of the offence versus the circumstances of the offender – were key in this situation.

“That’s where the rubber really meets the road in this case, in my view,” he said.

The offence took place at the K2 Mart gas bar on Jan. 10, 2023 around 6 a.m. McKaig, wearing sunglasses and her hood up, brandished a black imitation pistol and pointed it at the store clerk while demanding money, the court heard. She fled with cash, lottery tickets, chocolate bars and a Diet Coke before ditching some of her clothes nearby.

Sarnia police released photos of her the next day taken from the store’s video surveillance and asked the public for help identifying her.

McKaig’s sister saw the public plea and confronted her before coming forward to police, who found evidence of the robbery along with the replica handgun three days later during a search.

Article content

Article content

McKaig was charged with robbery using a firearm, pointing a firearm, disguise with intent, and using a firearm while committing an offence, police said. McKaig, who had no prior record, later pleaded guilty to one count of robbery with an imitation firearm.

“This is a very serious criminal offence,” Poland said.

Defence lawyer Terry Brandon said it’s the kind of activity that often sees perpetrators sent to prison.

“It certainly is something that was considered at the outset prior to us having the wealth of information that we now have about Ms. McKaig,” she said.

Concerned about her client’s wellbeing and mental health at the time, including a past brain injury, Brandon had a different Sarnia judge order an assessment in March 2023 to establish whether McKaig was suffering from a mental disorder, which could potentially make her exempt from criminal responsibility. Brandon also had concerns about a third party – McKaig’s partner at the time – linked to the Sarnia drug subculture manipulating her client.

McKaig was later transferred from the Sarnia Jail to the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas to be seen by psychiatrists.

Article content

“She certainly acted of her own volition, went there on her own accord and confessed to her sister,” Brandon recalled of the assessment results.

But Dr. Amir Ardani also found McKaig was a vulnerable person due to her intellectual disability who could be taken advantage of by more functional antisocial people.

“That is, in my view, precisely what happened here,” Poland said, finding she was significantly less morally blameworthy due to the relationship she was in at the time.

Taking in all those factors, both lawyers suggested an 18-month conditional sentence.

“This is not a joint recommendation that has been reached lightly,” Donald said.

Poland agreed to impose it. But he also pointed to the impact the robbery had on the store clerk, a new Canadian who’s struggled with his mental health since then.

McKaig apologized to the clerk, the courts, the community, and her family and friends.

“I’m very sorry,” she said.

Her sentence features nine months of house arrest with GPS tracking followed by nine months of a curfew. During the whole time she can’t drink, do drugs, contact the victim or have weapons. She also has to tell her supervisor about any new romantic relationship due to her vulnerability.

After her sentence is over, she has an 18-month probation order banning her from the victim and the store. The other charges police laid were dropped as part of the plea deal.

tbridge@postmedia.com

@ObserverTerry

Article content