A 60-year-old Armstrong woman charged with four counts of arson has elected for trial by judge alone in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Dominique Verdurmen, acting as agent for defence lawyer Glenn Verdurmen, appeared for Colette M Leneveu, who is released on bail, in Vernon Law Courts Thursday, June 21 for arraignment.
“The accused elects to be tried by judge alone, and we will be waiving a request for a preliminary inquiry,” Dominique Verdurmen said.
Leneveu’s matter was adjourned to appear in front of a provincial court judge for a committal order July 4 at 9:30 a.m. in courtroom 201.
Under bail conditions, Leneveu is not permitted to be in possession of combustible fuels, matches, incendiary devices or explosives of any kind. She is also to abstain from using alcohol or drugs other than by prescription. Leneveu is also subject to a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and is barred from being within 100 metres of three homes where fires are alleged to have occurred.
Related: Bail conditions added for Armstrong arson suspect
None of the charges against her has been proven in court.
Between March 8 and March 12, six suspicious fires were reported in the Armstrong area, all of which were on Warner Avenue and Okanagan Street, with varying levels of damage. No injuries were reported as a result of any of the fires.
Police responded to a call March 12 and found a set of tires had been lit on fire beside a garage at one home and a back deck at another home located down the street. Both fires were extinguished prior to extensive damage being done.
While responding to those two calls, RCMP said they learned that another alleged arson had just occurred in the 2200 block of Okanagan Street where the suspect attempted to light two cars on fire and fled the area.
Related: Three fires in two nights treated as arson
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