NANAIMO — An overnight break-in and theft of numerous valuables from a local church resulted in guilty pleas, house arrest and a restitution bill.
Penny Raines, 63, who has a detailed criminal record, has more convictions to her name following an overnight break-in at Oceanside International Church on Jingle Pot Rd. and Holland Rd. in late August 2021.
Raines and an unknown accomplice cleaned the church out of thousands of dollars in valuables after several outbuildings on the property were busted into, an agreed statement of facts heard on Friday, March 3 in Nanaimo.
A provincial court judge accepted a jointly submitted sentence recommendation of a nine-month non-custodial sentence followed by one year probation.
Raines previously pleaded guilty to break and enter, as well as flight from police in relation to a separate incident six weeks later.
The Crown’s Sabrina Avery stated several other valuables from the church were stolen, including numerous surveillance cameras, digital printers, speakers, and a 60 inch LCD TV.
“The pair arrived in a Jeep Cherokee, came and went multiple times, before ultimately taking off with the espresso machine on the roof at 4:30 a.m.”
Penny Raines stole this commercial grade coffee machine from Oceanside International Church. (Nanaimo RCMP)Avery noted area video surveillance confirmed the license plate on the Jeep was Raines’ vehicle.
Two weeks later Nanaimo RCMP’s Street Crimes Unit was patrolling south Nanaimo where police spotted an espresso machine on Raines’ property.
The machine, which had matching serial numbers to the church’s device, was seized on the spot and returned to the church.
Two days later a search warrant at the property led to the seizure of several other stolen items from the church, which were also returned.
Raines was then arrested.
She had been on a curfew bail since Sept. 2021, with no breaches.
On Oct. 15, 2021 Raines failed to pull over for police as she sped up Bowen Rd., reaching as fast as 90 kilometers an hour.
The responding RCMP officer elected not to pursue Raines due to safety reasons.
She claimed she didn’t stop because an arrest warrant was out for a passenger in her vehicle.
A pre-sentence report outlined Raines minimized responsibility for her actions, telling her probation officer it was her accomplice’s idea to break into the church and she was only there to collect bottles.
Raines has a long criminal record dating back to 2005, most notably for property crimes.
She reported her offending was closely tied to a drug addiction, but stated she has been sober for the past five years.
“In some respect your Honour of course that’s certainly a benefit to Mrs. Raines, but makes the Crown slightly concerned with the circumstances of these files then if they weren’t related to her addiction issues,” Avery said.
Raines had a gap in her record between 2015 and the break-in at the church, which judge Gurmail Gill said worked to her benefit.
“If it were not for that gap I would not accede to this joint submission. It demonstrates that she is able to conduct herself appropriately in the community.”
Raines’ lawyer said her client is open to counselling and in-patient addiction treatment.
James Arends said Raines moved to Vancouver to get away from negative influences in Nanaimo.
He said Raines is living in a healthy, supportive environment with family and has a new supportive partner who has zero tolerance for criminal behaviour.
Raines’ nine-month non-custodial sentence features house arrest.
She was also handed a one year driving ban and fined $1,000 for fleeing from Nanaimo police.
Raines was also ordered to pay back the church a little over $2,000 for the items which weren’t recovered by police through their investigation.
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