A B.C. Supreme Court justice has sentenced a fraudster who stole more than $21,000 from a Clinton senior to a year of house arrest.
The scammer has also been ordered to repay his victim.
Darren Sidwell pleaded guilty to fraud for misleading a 76-year-old woman with a series of stories about unnecessary work at her home.
He later manufactured family medical and other crises for which he needed drug money.
That included a story his daughter was in B.C. Children’s Hospital. None of it was true.
“He put a hole in the heart of a nice person who just wanted to assist him,” Justice Terrence Schultes said. “That hurt goes on every day.”
The Crown and defence argued last week for a one-year conditional sentence, differing only in house arrest versus a lighter curfew provision.
Schultes warned them he thought that sentence too light and was considering punishment of more than two years in jail.
Lawyers presented a series of cases on Friday showing a conditional sentence order was given in similar circumstances.
While Schultes said he accepted the joint submission by the lawyers for a one-year conditional sentence, he added more restrictive terms.
“They should be uncomfortable . . . unpleasant,” he said.
While the 44-year Sidwell will be able to work as a landscaper, he can leave his residence for only three hours a week for personal business, including attending church.
Some conditional sentences allow offenders personal business up to two hours a day.
Schultes imposed a restitution order for $21,300, including a condition Sidwell pay $100 a month toward that amount during his one-year conditional sentence.
Sidwell admitted his crime to police after a credit-union employee grew suspicious of the transactions.
Sidwell said he was addicted to cocaine and he later enrolled in a treatment program at a Prince George centre, where he had failed in the past. He called himself a “master manipulator” who has also taken advantage of his family.
“My submission is it’s important he keep trying,” defence lawyer Chris Thompson said.
Crown prosecutor Sarah Firestone said two former spouses of Sidwell told her he owes them money.
One of them blurted out in court last week that he will not pay the money he defrauded from the senior.
“There’s skepticism about ability and willingness to pay,” Firestone said.
Sidwell has a criminal record for possession of stolen property and trafficking.
“In 25 years, I hurt a lot of people and made them angry,” Sidwell told Schultes. “I want a chance to pay everyone back.”
Sidwell said he has become a member of a Prince George church, where he met his current girlfriend and employer.
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