Fire hazard still high

NORTH Vancouver
District fire officials
want to remind the
public of the high fire
hazard ‘in the parks and
fo of the Capilano
and Seymour areas.

Park visitors are currently
restricted to irails as indicated
by park signs. Smoking or the
lighting of matches is not per-
+ mitted on the traiis, said
William Biela, North
Vancouver District Fire and
Rescue Services spokesman.

-Bicla said that fire crew:

have pat our several small .

bush and grass fires in the
municipality in recent weeks.

Some of the fires were
started by carelessly discarded
cigarettes, cigars or matches.

District fire crews put out
small fires three times in five
days at Lynn Valicy’s
Kirkstone Park, starting on
Aug. 27

One of the fires started ina
garbage container.

Bicia also said that there
have been five other fires in
the gencral ayea of Kirkstone
Park in August: four bush
fires and onc dumpster fire.

—Anna Marie D’Angelo

Instruciar.-,’."."

are Beene

Friday, September 4, 1998 — North Shore News —

be

Career criminal avoids ja

Judge says jail
ineffective,
tries probation

Anna Marie D'Angelo
dangclo@nsnews.cam

A North Vancouver
provincial court judge
concluded that jail had
no effect on a career
petty criminal so the
man got two years’
worth of probation
instead.

Robert Cooper Leith, 47,
had 33 property-related con-
victions in criminal
record when fe pleaded
guilty to two more offences
on Wednesday.

The Vancouver resident
pleaded guilty io possessing
stolen property consisting of
identification anid credit
cards. One of the cards, 2
stolen Brick credit card was
used by Leith to try to buy a
$465 mini-stereo on March
19 in North Vancouver.

He also pleaded guilty to
stealing a $39.99 staple gun
on July 28 from the Scars
Canada store at the Capilano
mall.

Both Crown lawyer
Ariana Ward and defence
lawyer Birgit Eder expected
the jadge to hand out 2 jail
sentence for the offences,
given Leith’s cris tinal
record,

But North Vancouver
provincial court Judge Bil
Rodgers said jail has not
deterred Leith from commit-
ting crimes.

he judge calculated that
since 1980, Leith has been
sentenced to 15 years and
sever months in jail.

“And it hasn’t changed
him 2 bit,” said Rodgers.

The actual amount of jail
time Leith has served was
not disclosed.

But the Crown lawyer did
say that Leith had served 45
days in ja. in 1995 for
shoplifting. Defence lawyer
Eder said that Leith spent 12
months in jail in 1996.

Rodgers said it costs tax-
payers $5,000 a month to
keep a ccimninal in jail, a sta~
tistic the judge has quoted

before in public court.

Rodgers said that Leith
was a “plague upon the busi-
nesses in this community”
before sentencing him to two
years” probat

Leith is required to per-
form 250 hours of communi:
ty work service.

lronically, probation
appeared to have little effec
on Leith cither: he had been
on probation four days when
he stole the staple gun at
Capilano mall.

The probation relaed to
a Burnaby conviction.

North Vancouver
Mounties described Leith as
having a “cocky” atritude
after his arrest at Capilano
Mall.

Leith told the police that
he was a career criminal and
that he had gone on a
“shoplifting unip at Sears.”

He said he was “job secu-
tiry for palice agencies,”
according to Crown infor-
mation.

Leith was caught in The
Brick store incident when a
clerk noticed thac Leith tock
out a Brick credit card from a
stack of identification that
had photographs which
didn't resemble Leith.

Crown lawyer Ward said
one of the cards belonged to
a man who was robbed of his
wallec in East Vancouver five
days before ‘The Brick store
incident.

Concluded Ward, “He is
a menace to society.”

Leith’s lawyer said her
client had nothing to do with
the wailet robbery.

“He was literally given
them (credit cards and iden-
tification) for free in East
Hastings,” said Eder.

.

Eder said Leith is a care-
taker at a downtown eastside
Pentecostal Church.

She said Leith cannot
work full since surviv-
ing a sclFinflicted gunshot
wound to his head after his
marriage failed.

Name: “Audi iv 2.8
Colour: Loser Red
Drive: Quattro IV,

Likes:

“He beiieves his personal-
ity changed (after the-shoot-
ing,)” said Eder.

The white-haired and
bearded Leith said nothing
during court. He was wear-
ing a dark blue business suit
and runners.

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Turn-ons:

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Turn-offs:

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