Habitual Nanaimo liquor store thief sentenced again

Davidson has continually stolen from Nanaimo-area liquor stores, with Best Buy Liquor Store on Jingle Pot Rd. her apparent favourite target.

Crown counsel’s Kyle Grant said the vast majority of Davidson’s crimes have been since 2023.

“Twelve of those 17 total criminal code convictions are for theft unders (theft under $5,000), noteworthy that I believe all of the theft under convictions were for shoplifting, primarily from liquor stores.”

Davidson stole hundreds of dollars’ worth of booze during three of her most recent shoplifting sprees, two of them from the Jingle Pot Rd. store.

Court heard how staff, surveillance footage and Nanaimo RCMP were able to swiftly identify Davidson’s unsophisticated thefts.

Davidson was granted bail under the condition she start treatment on March 12 in the Fraser Valley.

Four days later, an agreed statement of facts outlined by the Crown’s Grant confirmed Davidson breached her release order by leaving the facility.

She was re-arrested in mid-April.

Cheyenne Patricia Davidson is a chronic Nanaimo-area retail thief (Image Credit: Nanaimo RCMP)

Davidson has been in and out of jail since last July.

She was sentenced for theft and breaching probation conditions this past September.

The mother of two has substance abuse issues, which are the driving force behind her criminal behaviour, court was told.

Davidson had worked for several years in the healthcare industry and began suffering from seizures around five years ago.

Defence counsel Robert Fredrickson reported Davidson does not have any significant mental health issues, but noted substance abuse is a significant problem.

“At this stage she has detoxed, she’s been in custody a significant period of time and is now in a situation where she wants to carry forward with her life,” Fredrickson told the provincial court sentencing hearing.

Davidson intends to live in a shelter environment in Nanaimo until she can obtain more formal housing.

The offender had been on income assistance before her latest run-ins with the law.

She told court from a remote video feed that she had done lots of self-healing work, which includes programming while in custody.

“I’m ready to move on with my life and put all of this behind me, and I’ve definitely learned from my mistakes, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to move forward from all of this,” Davidson proclaimed.

Davidson’s sentence also includes a year-long probationary term.

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by Ian Holmes

Habitual Nanaimo liquor store thief sentenced again

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