Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 22/02) - A cocaine addict who stole from local schools, residences and businesses to support his habit will spend 12 months in jail for his crimes.

Thomas Avery, 20, began his criminal quest for cash on Aug. 21 when he stole $560 from the cash register at The Sportsman.

His next stop on Aug. 28 was William McDonald School. A teacher entered the staff room to discover Avery, whom she did not know, standing in the room.

After telling her he was a substitute teacher named 'Kevin,' Avery left the staff room shortly afterwards. The teacher soon found that $17 was missing from her bag.

On Sept. 3 police were called to Jose Loco's to investigate a theft that had occurred the night before. The culprit made off with a mini-disc player and several bottles of vodka.

After acting on an anonymous tip, RCMP recovered the mini-disc player, which had been sold to another individual for $60.

That individual identified Avery as the person who sold him the disc player. The booze was not recovered.

Also on Sept. 3 a resident of Forrest Drive returned from a shopping trip to find Avery in their home, exiting a bedroom.

Avery told the homeowner he was looking for someone and must have entered the wrong house, but later admitted to police he had gained entrance to the home to look for money. Nothing was taken.

On Sept. 9 an employee of Northern News Services reported to police that an unknown male individual had entered her office and made off with four or five bags of change, estimated value between $100 and $125, from a co-worker's desk. Avery was arrested for that offence when he attempted to exchange the cash at the Gold Range Cafe and Bar shortly afterwards.

Finally, on Sept. 11 Avery walked into the Montessori School and took $15 and a bag of chips from an employee's purse.

Avery pleaded guilty to five counts of theft, one count of break and enter with intent and two counts of breaching his probation.

Avery's lawyer Peter Fuglsang said it's no secret that his client was stealing to support his addiction and requested a brief jail sentence and probation with conditions such as counselling to help him defeat his fixation.

But Crown counsel Andrew Fox did not agree.

"His need for cocaine trumps everything else ... incarceration has to be the sentence here today," he said.

Judge Michel Bourassa warned Avery to beat his addiction, which is not just destroying him, but all of society.

"...This is the price society has to pay for drug addicts," he said.

Avery took full responsibility for his actions, vowing to get help from a qualified professional counsellor.

Bourassa ordered that Avery be provided with drug counselling in jail if it's available.