Panhandler gets time served for knife assault
Robert “Robbie” Keith MacDonald, 48, of Fredericton, gets five months for brandishing knife after woman refused to give him money, but that worked out to outstanding remand credit
A Fredericton panhandler who terrified a woman who declined to give him money by smacking her car while he was holding a knife was freed from custody Monday.
Robert (Robbie) Keith MacDonald, 48, of no fixed address, had been charged with robbery after an incident in a Tim Hortons parking lot in Fredericton on Feb. 11, but Justice Cameron Gunn found him not guilty of the charge after a trial in provincial court this summer.
However, the judge found him guilty of the lesser, included offence of assault with a weapon.
Court heard when MacDonald begged for money from Krista Ryan in her car on the date in question, she refused and rolled up her window.
That’s when the offender produced a knife and slammed his fist on the hood of her car while brandishing it.