In Toronto, career criminal Anthony Bennett, who is now infamous for his run-in with a
vigilante shopkeeper who had had enough, has been barred from shops in the Chinatown area -- much to the relief of local shopkeepers:
Career shoplifter barred from some downtown stores.
Bennett, 52, pleaded guilty in a Toronto court to three charges of theft under $5,000 for stealing from Jungle Fruit, a Kensington Market store, last month. Two other charges of theft were withdrawn.
As part of his bail conditions, Bennett was banned from the area bounded by Bathurst, Beverly, College and Queen streets while he awaits a Dec. 17 sentencing hearing. He was also ordered to attend the Salvation Army's Turning Point drug-treatment program to treat his cocaine addiction.
"I'm delighted," said Chi-Kun Shi, the lawyer for Jungle Fruit owner Jeff Ing. "That's exactly what we're looking for."
Ms. Shi said the grocers were fed up with Bennett's constant harassment. But they didn't care if he was locked up, just that he was prevented from coming near their stores. They are asking the court to extend the ban for three years, the maximum allowed under the Criminal Code, as part of Bennett's sentence.
"We have nothing to say about whether he should spend time in jail," she said. "As far as the store owners are concerned, the ban works for them."
Man, how bad of a shoplifter do you have to be to have 37 different store owners committing their signatures to ban you from their shops? Of course, barring Bennett alone isn't going to stop the problem of Chinatown thieves -- it's largely symbolic -- but it doesn't hurt. More here:
Shoplifter banned, for now, from Kensington Market, Chinatown.
