CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who was under house arrest when he went several places without permission was recently sent to jail for five days.
Lucas Kenneth Campbell, 24, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in Charlottetown for breaching a 4.5-month conditional sentence order he was serving on a string of charges that included theft and using a stolen debit card.
During Campbell’s most recent court appearance, Crown attorney Gerald Quinn said the accused was only given permission to go to work and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet when he called in sick.
The bracelet showed Campbell went to several places in Charlottetown that day without permission.
Quinn said he was struck by how flagrant the breach of the conditional sentence was because the electronic monitoring kept track of everywhere Campbell had been.
When Campbell addressed the court, he said he was running errands his girlfriend normally would have done but couldn’t because she was in the hospital.
Campbell said he should have called his probation officer first, adding the conditional sentence was the best thing that ever happened to him.
“I made a mistake. I’m human, your honour,” he said.
The court heard Campbell was given two hours per week to run personal errands.
As he asked not to have the house arrest suspended, Campbell told the court that a few months ago he would have been thinking about where to get his next pill.
Now he is considering bankruptcy so he can rebuild his credit and buy a home, Campbell said.
“I’m in a good headspace, your honour. I just want to do good.”
He also said he would lose his job if he was held in custody.
After Orr suspended the house arrest for five days, Campbell thanked her.
“I was expecting it to be a lot worse,” he said.
