Woman Who Robbed Garden Street Irving With Syringe Comes Clean, 7 Years Later

In what the judge called a "highly unusual" case, a young woman who robbed the Garden Street Irving in Saint John  with a syringe seven years ago, turned herself over to police in the hope of finally kicking her drug addiction.

The robbery happened on Boxing Day in 2006, when 32 year old Patricia Joy Honeywell threatened staff at the gas station with what she described as a "dirty" needle and demanded cash. Honeywell told the court she wants to get the treatment available in jail so she can get off drugs and be a mother to her three kids again.

In his sentencing, Judge LeMesurier asked Honeywell whether she would want her children working late nights at a gas station after what she did, reminding her that the employees she "traumatized" are also someone else's children.

In his sentencing, the judge said he tried to take into account both the seriousness of the offence and Honeywell's honesty in finally coming clean. Ultimately, she was  sentenced to 3 years federal time.