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Wednesdsay May 3, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Poppy box thief receives conditional sentence By Lisa Cartwright SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A Campbellville woman, who stole Royal Canadian Legion poppy boxes from eight Oakville locations last Remembrance Day, received a sixmonth conditional sentence in Burlington provincial court, Friday. Lorraine King, 24, was also ordered to perform 60 hours of community ser vice within six months. While the conditional sentence means Lorraine King will not spend anytime in jail, the single mother of two children did not completely escape the courtroom without spending some time behind bars. After handing down his sentence, Judge Douglas Latimer, whose 18year-old brother was killed in World. War II, told King, "I have a learning experience for you. I will put you back in a cell until the papers are ready." King was escorted out of the court room by the police and held in custody until her court papers were processed. After King was taken away, her lawyer, Richard Stern, gave Veronica Ion, poppy chair for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 486 in Bronte, $1,600 in cash as restitution. In an interview before the court pro ceedings, Ion said she wasn't expecting to get the money back. Ion said she will give half of the money to the Oakville branch that also lost poppy boxes. Before passing his sentence, Judge Latimer told King that after 28 years, making a decision about people's fate was still difficult -- because he was still dealing with people. In what he called an `unusual move,' Judge Latimer read the two letters King had submitted to the court. One letter was written by King. In it she wrote about visiting the grave site of her grandfather, who had served in the Second World War. "I went to speak with him and explained what I had done. It was very hard. I pictured the look on his face." She said her grandfather would have been every disappointed in her. She also wrote how much she enjoyed being with her children and taking them to the park. King wrote that r SEW ING ^ M A C H IN E STORE R E P A IR S T O S I N G E R a n d al l other makes & models Judge rejects Crown's jail request, levies 60 hours of community work she works at at a fast-food restaurant and was honest with her employer about what she had done. "I told my boss what I did and she was disappointed in me, but said every one deserved a second chance." She is now being trained as an assis tant manager. King wrote she volunteers at Allendale on Sundays and works at a church program. The $ 1,600 she gave to her lawyer to be presented to the legion was money she earned herself. "I am trying to do everything possi ble to pay back to my town," she wrote. The other letter was written by her employer who had hired her even though King was completely honest about what she had done and her upcoming court proceedings. King babysits the man's two boys and wrote that she was wonderful with them, as well as her own two children. "In my opinion, King already has learned her lesson," he wrote. Her conditional six-month sentence was much lighter than the 60 to 90-day jail term requested by Crown Attorney Monica MacKenzie-Bolle. MacKenzie-Bolle argued that a jail sentence would act as deterrent for King and others from committing the same type of crime. She pointed out that King was not a first-time offender. She had previously been convicted of fraud under $5,000 for writing a bad cheque. MacKenzie-Bolle argued the poppy box theft was not a crime of opportuni ty, it was planned. King's Lawyer, Stern, countered that jail is not the only way to teach people that such behaviour is unaccept able. Stern mentioned to the intense media interest the poppy fund theft has garnered and pointed to the reporters sitting behind him. King's case also attracted media attention when she was named Milton's millennium mother after giving birth to a son at 6:52 p.m. on Jan. 3rd at Milton District Hospital. She was showered with gifts from the hospital and several local businesses. Stem said King was never in trouble with the law until she started dating her former common-law spouse, Adam Pickering. But King continues to see him, the Crown argued, even though both her family and her probation officer do not like him. "She still does not wish to end the relationship," said MacKenzie-Bolle. In his sentencing Judge Latimer told King she was not allowed to associate with anyone who her probation officer felt was unacceptable, including her common-law spouse. But he said she was an adult and the decision was hers. "I'll leave it like that. They say love is a wonderful thing." On Friday, King was also sentenced for a conviction for theft over $5,000 pertaining to welfare fraud. 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