A series of thefts cost him 30 months of freedom

A young offender who has spent part of his life in an institution was sentenced on Friday to serve a thirty-month prison sentence for having committed, in 2019, five simple thefts and five robberies.

This is not the first time that 21-year-old Nassim Saad has found himself in court. Detained since his arrest at the Quebec City Detention Center, the young man appeared virtually before Judge Mario Tremblay on Friday.

Between October 28 and November 27, 2019, Saad committed five simple thefts in convenience stores, to claim boxes cigarettes or even in a drugstore to steal $ 400 worth of electric toothbrushes.

“There, he also stole the donation box which was intended for Operation Enfant-Soleil and which contained 50 dollars,” said the prosecutor, M^e Franceline Lamoureux-Auclair.

After these five thefts, Saad armed himself with a knife and the simple thefts turned into robberies. In all, two convenience stores, a bar and a restaurant were visited by Saad who was arrested on November 9.

Two and a half weeks later, after having undergone his investigation on release, the young man was handed over to the interveners of a therapy house, the judge having estimated that because of his young age “we cannot could throw in the towel ”.

“Mr. was brought to therapy and the same evening, he fled the resource,” said the prosecutor, specifying that the last robbery alleged against the young man had occurred the next day.

“My client had an unhappy childhood. He has developed a problem with hard drugs and he also has a certain tendency towards sabotage, ”said defense lawyer Mr.^e Charles-Olivier Gosselin.

Upon leaving detention, Saad will have to comply with a two-year probation period, with follow-up for 18 months.