A robber who hit three convenience stores in Surrey in 2015 has been sentenced to 32 weeks more in jail on top of the year and a half he has already spent in custody.
Manvir Singh Dhindsa entered guilty pleas related to three robberies. All were convenience stores manned by lone clerks in the middle of the night, in November 2015.
He also pleaded guilty to violating his bail and probation in September 2016.
Surrey provincial court Judge Deanne Gaffar sentenced him on Jan. 16.
The court heard that on Dec. 19, 2015 Dhindsa robbed a Mac’s convenience store with an X-acto knife, wearing a red mask. He got $70 and several packs of smokes and took off in a stolen vehicle driven by another masked man. This robbery was at 3:25 a.m.
On Dec. 22, 2015 at 3:47 a.m., Dhindsa and another man entered same store. Both were masked, and robbed the same clerk as before. Dhindsa stole $60 and some smokes. One of the pair yelled “Give me cash,” and “I’ll do anything. I’ll f—king shoot you,” Gaffar noted.
Then, at 4:43 a.m., Dhindsa robbed a 7-Eleven store. This time he was alone. The court heard he was masked, didn’t show a weapon but kept his hand in his pocket, as if threatening he had a weapon. He took $130, then got into a stolen vehicle driven by masked man. It was a different vehicle than what was used in the earlier crime.
The court heard Dhindsa dropped out of high school, is struggling with drug addiction, wants to be a commercial truck driver and wants to marry his girlfriend.
“He robbed convenience stores when the clerks were at their most vulnerable,” the judge noted. “These offences are serious and traumatized the solitary store clerks.”
Meantime, the latest Surrey RCMP crime statistics available indicate the number of robberies in this city fell by 20 per cent in 2017, to 335 from 419 in 2016. Fifty-one suspects were charged with robbery last year.
READ ALSO: Violent crime in Surrey fell by eight per cent in 2017, police say
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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