Skip to main content
vancouver riots

Messages written on plywood covering broken windows of the Hudson's Bay Company after last week's riot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, June 19, 2011.Rafal Gerszak/The Globe and Mail

A repentant Stanley Cup rioter has been spared jail time, despite the recommendations of Crown prosecutors.

Robert Snelgrove has been sentenced to three months of house arrest, which he must serve at his parent's home in Coquitlam.

The 25-year-old surrendered to police the day after the June 15, 2011 riot, admitted to looting cosmetics from the Sears department store, and pleaded guilty to participating in a riot and a charge of break and enter.

Provincial court judge Gregory Rideout took those actions into account, imposed a two month curfew, $500 fine and ordered Mr. Snelgrove to write a letter of apology to the City of Vancouver.

But Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie says prosecutors were seeking a shorter term than the three months of house arrest, but wanted Mr. Snelgrove to serve his time in jail because the public would likely view that sentence as a more severe consequence.

Police records show more than 300 charges have been approved against 121 people, but only two jail terms have been imposed so far — one for 17 months and another for 30 days — in the wake of the violence and looting that followed the Vancouver Canucks' loss in Game Seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup final.

Interact with The Globe