ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Leonard Clarke is “not the best person in Newfoundland,” his defence lawyer acknowledged to the judge Tuesday, but he’s a 63-year-old man who wants to make a better life for himself and would get no more out of spending five years in jail than he would spending four.
Five years behind bars is appropriate for Clarke, the prosecutor argued, given he was the getaway driver in the daylight armed robbery of a pharmacy in which almost $5,000 worth of narcotics was stolen and a store employee was left traumatized.
Clarke was convicted last November after a trial of robbing Green’s Pharmacy in Conception Bay South the afternoon of June 7, 2017. His sentencing hearing took place in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s Tuesday morning, as the court began hearing certain in-person matters after relaxing some COVID-19 restrictions.
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Video evidence and testimony of four witnesses led to Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Chief Justice Raymond Whalen finding Clarke was the getaway driver in the robbery, waiting in a van near the drugstore with the engine running, then tearing away once the robber ran out of the building and got aboard.
One pharmacy employee told the court the robber had told staff, “It’s a holdup,” yelling at people to “get back” and saying, “Hurry up, this is a real gun.”
A second employee testified she had been in a back room when she heard shouting and realized a robbery was happening. She left through a back door and, with no cellphone, approached a man sitting in what she thought was a delivery van in a nearby parking lot to ask him to call police.
She told the court the man had said “F---, f---, f---” when she told him the drugstore was being robbed. A masked man came running toward the van at that moment with a bag and a gun, she testified. He got into the van and told the driver to “F---ing drive” before the vehicle sped away.
The woman made note of the van’s licence plate number and gave it to police. Police identified Clarke — who owned a similar van, had a licence plate number that was one digit off from the number the woman provided and lived within a kilometre of the drugstore — as a suspect. The woman identified Clarke in a photo lineup.
In court Tuesday, prosecutor Alison Doyle read aloud a victim impact statement written by the woman, describing nightmares, anxiety and hyper-vigilance as a result of the robbery.
“When I’m driving and I meet a white van, my heart rate increases,” the woman wrote. “I instantly slow down, checking to see what the driver looks like, wondering if it’s the same guy, same van, looking in my rearview mirror to check out the licence plate number.”
Doyle suggested a period of five years in jail and a lifetime firearms ban is appropriate for Clarke. She noted he has a lengthy criminal record that includes two prior convictions for break-ins, along with drug charges, impaired driving charges and charges of possessing property obtained by crime, among others.
She suggested the fact that the robbery involved stealing narcotics from a pharmacy was particularly aggravating and asked the judge to review the video footage and find there was a firearm involved, even though it has never been recovered. With a firearm involved in the robbery, there’s a mandatory four-year prison term, she explained, and she argued for a year more than that.
“I would suggest that there’s nothing to suggest Mr. Clarke is in a situation where he could be considered a best offender; he hasn’t pleaded guilty, he hasn’t taken responsibility and he has quite a history of criminal convictions,” Doyle said.
“I can’t see any mitigating factor to put before the court this morning.”
Mary Boulos, representing Clarke, suggested a four-year jail term is more appropriate, given her client’s age and previous diagnosis of cancer.
“What sense does it make to put a 63-year-old man in jail for five years versus four years?” Boulos asked the judge. “I put forward that you must consider the individual factors of the accused.”
A pre-sentence report indicated Clarke has potential for rehabilitation, Boulos said, and he has a plan for employment that takes his age and health condition into account.
“What sense does it make to put a 63-year-old man in jail for five years versus four years?”
— Mary Boulos
Clarke told the court that while the report mentioned alcohol abuse, he has stopped drinking and doing drugs.
“I think what the Crown is asking for, that additional year, doesn’t really help the situation,” Boulos said. “He’s not the best person in Newfoundland, but given his characteristics and situation, his family background, his love for his children, that he’s doing what he can, that he indicated he hasn’t used cocaine in four to five years and indicated he has had no alcohol since the day of the offence, those are ways of interpreting remorse.”
Clarke told Whalen he wanted to apologize to the pharmacy.
Whalen will deliver his sentencing decision July 8. He ordered Clarke to be remanded into custody in the meantime.
Clarke's hearing was one of the first in-person matters the court has heard since implementing restrictions on operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Changes to court operations include limits on the number of people allowed in a courtroom, with mandatory social distancing.
In-person hearings are back at NL Supreme Court in St. John’s, with some changes! Jury box is now reserved for media. I...
Posted by Tara Bradbury on Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
