Lacey Maclean is one of those regulars business owners don't want patronizing their stores.
The 37-year-old was in a Sault Ste. Marie courtroom last week, where she pleaded guilty to 12 offences related to her visits to various local establishments.
A number of the charges stemmed from shoplifting incidents that occurred at a McNabb Street convenience store.
Maclean was convicted of three counts of theft for stealing merchandise from the Circle K store.
Ontario Court Justice John Condon heard city police officers were called to the business about a theft complaint on Sept. 24, 2022.
The accused was in the process of stealing items — sour cream, chocolate milk, potato chips and chocolate bars — and concealing them in her clothes.
Maclean didn't pay for them and was arrested outside the store, prosecutor Robert Skeggs said.
Between June 17 and June 22 of last year, she again stole merchandise from the same store.
She walked out with $13 worth of items one day and then again did the same thing at the same store on another day, absconding with $15 worth of pilfered goods.
The mother of four also was convicted of three counts of breaching release orders that prohibited her from going to that Circle K.
On Aug. 12, Maclean showed up there at 9 p.m.
The accused was unsuccessful this time because she was turned away by an employee when she tried to go inside, and was arrested, Skeggs said.
On Sep.19, the accused breached her release order going to the store at 4:25 a.m.
She removed $52 worth of food items from the shelves and "walked out without paying for them," Skeggs said.
Maclean made three similar visits to the store in October and again made off with merchandise, including $28 worth of items on one day.
She also pleaded guilty to an Oct. 23 theft from Shoppers Drug Mart.
The accused grabbed a container of yogurt and walked out of the Cambrian Mall pharmacy without paying for it.
Less than two weeks later on Nov. 4, she was charged with assaulting a security guard at Food Basics on Pine Street.
Maclean, who was on a trespass order prohibiting her from going to the grocery, showed up just before 1 p.m.
The security guard escorted her out of the store three times, and then she attempted to punch him.
Her actions were caught on his body camera as well as a store security camera, the court heard.
Maclean was arrested later that day, after police were contacted about an unwanted person at Shoppers Drug Mart.
She was also convicted of assaulting another individual who spotted her trying to enter property at 615 Bay St. — another spot where she had a no trespass order — on June 3, 2022.
The prosecutor said she threw an open carton of chocolate milk at the man's chest and then left the property.
Condon heard these are first-time convictions for Maclean, who has no prior criminal record.
The Crown and defence recommended a sentence of time served, plus 12 months probation.
With the enhanced credit of 1.5 days for each day she has spent in pre-sentence custody, it is the equivalent of a 117-day jail term.
Skeggs described it as a sentence that "has some substance to it."
Maclean's actions were frustrating to the employees of various businesses. There also was a real risk for employees working alone at night at Circle K, the assistant Crown attorney said.
He noted Maclean is accepting responsibility for actions that would have involved a number of trials.
Defence lawyer Ken Walker called his client's guilty pleas mitigating.
Maclean says she has attention deficit disorder but there is no indication of a diagnosis, except what she says, he told Condon.
"When I first spoke to her she was incoherent."
Walker said she has appointments lined up with mental health professionals.
When Condon asked if she wanted to say anything to the court, Maclean responded: "Sorry for taking your time."
He accepted the lawyers' joint submission describing the pleas as a sign of remorse that saved the courts a lot of time.
The judge pointed to the flagrant nature of her conduct, repeatedly returning to the Circle K, as aggravating.
Such businesses are often mom and pop operations and a "spree of this nature can knock out the profit margin and probably did," he said.
During her 12-month probation, Maclean must not be within 20 metres of Shoppers Drug Mart and Food Basics.
As well, she is not to go to any Circle K store in Sault Ste. Marie.
The stores need protection for the vulnerable people who work there at night, Condon said.
Maclean must take any recommended assessment, counselling and rehabilitative programs for psychiatric and psychological issues and substance abuse.
She must also provide a DNA sample for the national database.