[Image: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2011/01/17/anthony-bennett-cbc-250-011711.jpg]
The Toronto shoplifter who found himself at the centre of a citizen's-arrest case that got national attention has been sentenced to four months in jail and barred for three years from the city's main Chinatown area.
Anthony Bennett, 52, initially stole a flat of plants from the Lucky Moose grocery store in 2009. When he returned to the store to steal again, the storeowner and two employees tied him up and held him.
The merchant and the employees later went to trial, charged with assault and forcible confinement, but were found not guilty.
Bennett made two separate court appearances Monday.
In the first case, Bennett was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to pilfering plants from another shop and was ordered to stay away from Chinatown and Toronto's Kensington Market for three years — the maximum allowed under law.
Judge William Bassel told the court he had considered ordering Bennett to leave the city.
Under the terms of the ban, Bennett will not be allowed to enter the area bounded by Queen Street West in the south, College Street in the north, Bathurst Street in the west and Beverley Street in the east.
Admitted thefts
Bennett was given a suspended sentence of three years after pleading guilty to three counts of theft under $5,000 for stealing plants from the Jungle Fruit Mart in Chinatown in May and June 2010.
Bennett was already observing a temporary ban from the two downtown neighbourhoods ahead of his sentencing. He has a long record of previous theft-related crimes, for which he has 43 convictions.
In the second shoplifting case — from Dragon City — Bennett was sentenced to four months in jail. The Crown prosecutor asked for the jail term, saying a message needs to be sent to show shoplifting won't be tolerated.
Bennett has said he intends to move to British Columbia — where one of his six children lives — once he is able to do so, and to start drug rehabilitation there.
Outside the Old City Hall courthouse, Bennett said he is trying to mend his ways. "I've learned that it's bad to do bad things. You have to always do good, and I'm trying to learn that now," he said.
His wife, Linda St. Louis, said Bennett has the support of his family as he tries to kick his drug habit and rehabilitate himself.
"I mean, he's lucky he's got his children and me to support him," she said.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2011/01/17/toronto-bennett-chinatown-ban324.html
lol who shoplifts plants