Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2007
Source: Daily Gleaner (CN NK)
Page: A1, Front Page
Copyright: 2007 Brunswick News Inc.
Contact:  http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3857
Author: Shawn Berry
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

LOCATION OF METHADONE CLINIC BLAMED FOR ADDICT'S RELAPSE

A lawyer for a Fredericton woman who robbed a gas station and had to 
be stopped at gunpoint after a high-speed chase says his client fell 
victim to drug dealers lurking around the city's methadone clinic.

Victoria Janis Robichaud, 36, was sentenced to five years in prison 
Friday. She pleaded guilty after threatening to use a syringe while 
robbing a local gas station, and for leading police on a chase that 
went through a school zone and reached speeds of up to 160 kilometres an hour.

Her lawyer, Doug Smith, said his client was doing well after her 
release in June on a 2006 offence related to drugs. She was in the 
methadone program.

But he said the Sept. 5 incident happened because she gave in to the 
temptation of predators who offered her drugs outside the Victoria 
Health Centre.

"You have to fight your way through the drug dealers," he said, 
telling the court he was recounting what his client told him about 
the area outside the clinic.

"Coming out of the methadone clinic, this is where the drug dealers 
are," Smith said, noting the proximity of other services such as the 
soup kitchen and emergency shelter.

"Why don't they do something and move this clinic somewhere where the 
drug dealers can't get to them?" Smith asked.

Robichaud didn't comment on the matter in court.

Offered a chance to speak by the judge, she said, "I'm really sorry. 
I can't blame anyone but myself."

Judge Graydon Nicholas said Robichaud isn't the first person to enter 
his courtroom after falling off the methadone program.

"We have a lot of them," he said

"I agree with Mr. Smith that areas ... like where the methadone 
clinic is, these other temptations are there.  It's a shame."

Nicholas said Robichaud's relapse into drugs was sad, but didn't make 
right her crime or her dangerous attempts at escape.

He sentenced her to five years in jail -- four years for the armed 
robbery charge and one year for dangerous driving. One-year sentences 
for failing to stop for police will be served concurrently.

Robichaud also had her licence suspended for five years and is 
prohibited from ever possessing a firearm. She must also submit a DNA 
sample to a national registry of offenders. 
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