A Corner Brook man with a penchant for break and entries, other property offences and court order violations is behind bars awaiting sentencing for his latest rash of crimes.
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Philip Seamus Byrne, 20, has pleaded guilty to a total of 14 offences, including some filed Tuesday while he was already in custody for others.
The list of offences to which he has entered guilty pleas include a breach of probation that dates back to July 21 and a charge of breaking into the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre on Aug. 5. He was also charged with two counts of breaching probation in relation to the Arts and Culture Centre break-in, but one of those breaches has been withdrawn by the Crown.
Those offences were followed by an incident involving a stolen car Aug. 6. In relation to that, Byrne pleaded guilty to stealing gas from an Esso gas station in Gander, possessing a stolen 2013 Hyundai Elantra, driving while disqualified from doing so and breaching probation.
A charge of stealing the car and a second probation breach have been withdrawn.
He has also pleaded guilty to failing to stop a motor vehicle in order to evade the police pursuing him Aug. 7. For that incident, guilty pleas were also entered for driving while disqualified and another breach of probation.
The newest charges filed against Byrne also date back to Aug. 6. During an appearance in provincial court Tuesday, he entered guilty pleas to breaking into Junior’s Lottery Booth in the Valley Mall, being masked while intending to commit an indictable offence and two more probation breaches.
Charges of breaking into the Telus Mobility store in the Valley Mall and breaking into the mall itself on the same date were withdrawn by Crown attorney Adam Sparkes, as were four more breaches of probation associated with those break-in charges.
Byrne’s current probation order stems from his sentencing last December to 192 days in prison for eight property offences involving thefts from and breaking into Corner Brook area businesses and violating court orders.
In March 2017, he was sentenced to serve eight months for two more break-ins at businesses in the city.
His lawyer, Sandi MacKinnon, has asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared to assist the court in determining an appropriate sentence for these latest offences. The sentencing process will resume Oct. 5.
