‘I will always be the man that robbed you’ – SaltWire Network

ST. JOHN'S, N.L.

Tara Bradbury

The Telegram

tara.bradbury@thetelegram.com

@tara_bradbury

Justin Wiseman is no stranger to the courtroom, but he cried in the prisoner dock in St. John's Tuesday as he told the judge his crimes had always seemed quite victimless to him until he came face to face with a woman he had traumatized.

Every time Ive ever walked into a courtroom I pleaded guilty. I never had a chance to hear the testimony of a victim of my crimes, Wiseman told Justice Robert Stack of Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, saying he had worked to hold back tears last year while listening to the testimony of the convenience store clerk he had robbed. I can see that she has been truly affected and forever changed by this invasion in her place of work and for that my heart is filled with an overwhelming shame and remorse that Ive never felt in my whole life.

Wiseman, 28, was convicted last November of robbing a Mount Pearl Maries Mini Mart in March 2018 while disguised and armed with a knife, making his getaway in a stolen pickup truck. The store clerk had testified she had been working alone around 8:30 a.m. when a man dressed in black and wearing a bandanna over his face entered with a knife. She was frightened, she said, but didnt think he would hurt her.

"He was talking to me, telling me that he was sorry, right from the beginning. He told me that he was sorry, that no one was helping him out. He told me numerous times that he was sorry he was doing this, but it was something he had to do," the woman testified.

The robber Wiseman made off with $418 in cash and just over $1,200 worth of tobacco products, but not before the woman recorded the licence plate number of the grey pickup in which he left the scene. Police discovered the truck had been stolen and when officers spotted it on the road three hours later, they followed it to a home on Jersey Avenue.

After learning Wiseman was inside the home and refusing to come out, police surrounded it. Wiseman remained in the residence for the next six hours, as smoke and a strong smell of burning plastic emanated from the chimney. Police stormed the home and arrested Wiseman when they saw smoke coming from a window.

Wiseman was located in the basement while three fires burned on the main floor: one in the bathroom, one on the mattress in the main bedroom and one in the kitchen, where a stove burner had been turned on and a paint can and plastics placed on top of it.

Firefighters extinguished the fires, but were called back to the home a few hours later when the home started burning again. A charred knife was found amongst debris inside the residence, and the store clerk, upon seeing a photo of Wiseman in The Telegram and hearing his voice on NTV news, identified him as the man who had robbed her.

In addition to the armed robbery, Wiseman has acknowledged his guilt to an arson charge. He has been in custody since his arrest two years ago.

At his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Kathleen OReilly submitted a total jail sentence of between eight and nine years for Wiseman, noting he was on parole at the time of his offences for having committed a previous armed robbery. She stressed the seriousness of the arson, which she said would have been terrifying for neighbours and put the lives of firefighters, police and Wiseman himself at risk.

OReilly spoke of the fear experienced by the store clerk and of Wisemans history of serious crimes.

The fact of the matter is, when he was out, he was a risk to the public, she told the judge, acknowledging Wisemans participation in counselling for mental-health and addictions issues, but noting he had participated in the same many times in the past as well.

A pre-sentence report deems him at a high risk to reoffend, OReilly said.

Defence lawyer Karen Rehner suggested a jail term of between five and six years for her client, whom she said was experiencing a mental-health crisis at the time of the offences.

Its trite that one of the ways that we predict future behaviour is to look at past behaviour, but past behaviour is also one of the key ways that individuals learn, she said.

Rehner called Sam Martin, a psychologist at Her Majestys Penitentiary, to the witness stand, where he described Wiseman as being engaged in counselling and displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental fatigue. Martin said Wiseman has taken to reading psychology and self-help books, something not common for inmates to do.

Wiseman told the judge about a traumatic childhood that included abandonment and abuse, saying he finally understands the role his own anger and fear plays in his actions, and the realization is causing him to be consumed by shame and remorse.

My Lord, I could have been anyone or anything in this life, but I stand in shackles before the hand of justice, awaiting my fate, he said. Im ashamed of my criminal lifestyle, Im ashamed of hurting and victimizing people in my community while on drunken escapades and dangerous crime sprees."

Though she wasnt in the courtroom to hear it, Wiseman also directly addressed the store clerk.

Im so very sorry for subjecting you to the terror you felt that day and continue to feel today, he said I will always be the man that robbed you and you will always be the woman that I robbed.

"I want you to know that Im sorry and that I respect you for the bravery you showed for standing up to me for what you knew was right. You taught me that my actions affect the people I encounter and I dont ever want to leave the impression I left on you on someone else.

Stack will deliver his sentencing decision Aug. 5.

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'I will always be the man that robbed you' - SaltWire Network