FRIDAY December 6, 1996 Robber § jailed for five By Robert Galster News Reporter A drug-induced bur- gilary spree that saw seven West Vancouver homes ransacked and robbed has landed its villain a five-year jail term. Garrett Marchildon, 23, plead- ed guilty on Dec. 3 to the seven counts of break and enter. Seven charges of possession of stolen property and one charge of assaulting a police officer that had been laid against Marchildon were Judge Reginald Grandison said f his judgment considered the “ accused’s previous record of “approximately 20 break and enter convictions” which was pre- sented in court. The judge added that pleading guilty to the seven current charges was not to Marchildon’s credit because “he’s caught in such ’ inescapable offences” making any other plea implausible. “He destroyed the sense of security of no less chan seven fam- ilies in this community,” said Grandison. In_ his arguments, Crown counsel Dan Mulligan painted a - picture of a career criminal who “worked his way from house to house,” singlehandedly terroriz- ing a whole neighborhood, “The only way to protect the public is to put him away,” said Mulligan. But = Marchildon’s lawyer Garfield Staats painted a much dif- ferent picture of his client. Calling the sp: nothing, more than “a cry for help,” Staats summarized the seven break-ins as “really just vue really Jarge break and enter.” In a plea for leniency, Staats argued that Marchildon, at 23 years of age, is “not hopeless. “Te’s not time yet tc give up ... to keep him away from society,” said Staats, to ch Grandison replied that his job is not to keep Marchildon out of society, but rather to protect society from him. “That is no mere matter,” said See Crimes page 3 VICTORIA'S downloading announcements continue to rain on West Vancouve see the district take over maintenance of Cypress Bow! Road. What that mea WEATHER Saturday: Cloudy with showers High 77°C, iow 2° NEWS photo Mike Wakefield 1 Mayor Pat Boname’s parade. A recent directive will ns for district coffers remains uncertain. pick up road tab By lan Noble News Reporter WEST Vancouver, already reel- ing from cuts to municipal grants and its courthouse, has received more fiscal bad news courtesy of a deficit-ridden provincial government. The district says the province's directive that West Vancouver must take responsibility for 8 Bowl Road’s maintenance and upkeep beginning in April could cost more than the $68,000 annually estimated by Victoria. And there could be more than a $1-million bill if the road needs to be paved, trict Opera- Provincial government downloads arterial highway upkeep costs tions director Barry Lambert Wednesday, On top of upkeep and repaving, there is the potential for rock slides and legal fiability for the district on the twisting, steep road, said Lambert. He added thar he won't know how much the district will pay for Cypress road upkeep until the district has been maintaining the road for a year. “T think it could easily be more expensive than that,” he said of the $68,000 estimate. But the real costs remain up in the air. West Vancouver's responsibil for Cypress Bow! Road have sail nor been determined by the Grand Prix’ ‘gets total redesign for 97 provincial government. On Wednesday, highways ministry communi- cations manager Don Ramsay ‘said West Vancouver would have to ante up for snow plow- ing the road, which Lambert estimated would cost more than $250,000 a year. But on Thursday Ramsay said the province will honor a 50-year contract the province has with Cypress Bowl Recreations to plow the road within: provincial park boundaries. That contract likely won't be changed by the government's announcement and will be dealt with separately from the handing over of Cypress Bowl Road to the municipality, Ramsay added. On Monday, the ministry fleshed out a down- loading of responsibility for what it called arterial highways to municipalities. The move was first See Changes page 4 A Idea book wins :photographer’- accolades ,