Bank disturbances lead to short sentence for Hat woman

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on March 2, 2023.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

A Medicine Hat woman who caused a scene at two downtown banks last spring received a 30-day jail sentence on Wednesday, but is already required to undergo psychiatric assessment to clear up other legal matters.

The 39-year-old Medicine Hat resident pleaded guilty at Provincial Court to two counts of mischief and also failing to report to the Medicine Hat Remand Centre to serve a separate sentence intermittently on weekends.

“It appears that she is suffering from mental health issues, given the nature of the offences,” said Crown prosecutor Ryan Anstay.

An agreed statement of facts states Medicine Hat police received a report of a woman screaming inside a bank branch on Sixth Ave. downtown on April 13, 2022. When they arrived they found a woman yelling on the sidewalk outside the building, and a search of her possessions turned up a plastic bag containing meth residue.

One day earlier the woman and a man were at a separate bank when they began yelling at a bank machine, according to prosecutors.

When it didn’t produce cash, the woman yelled “more” then approached the tellers and clients in line mimicking the action of firing a rifle off her shoulder and saying bang.

“This made tellers very uncomfortable,” said Anstay. “They then began running throughout the branch, up and down the halls, screaming like animals.”

Judge Eric Brooks agreed with a joint submission from defence and prosecutors that would see the woman, who has been in custody since Feb. 3, spend a total of 30 days in jail.

That period ends this week, after which she is required to complete another 90 days on weekends, and also adhere to probation requirements for mental health analysis.

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