It’s not often that someone convicted of a crime gets to serve his jail time by sitting in the corner – in court.
But that’s what happened Thursday in Princeton when Michael Barnetson pleaded guilty to breaching his probation and was sentenced to three days in prison.
Barnetson was credited two days for time served, after admitting he repeatedly failed to report to his probation officer in March.
The probation condition was the result of a conviction for mischief under $5,000.
As another man was lodged in the courthouse cell at the time, Judge Greg Koturbash said Barnetson could remain in custody, sitting in the courtroom for the day.
Crown counsel told the court Barnetson has two previous convictions for breaching probation “and he hasn’t served jail sentences for either.”
Addressing the bench, Barnetson said he failed to report because “I’m a scatterbrain. I was at work and totally didn’t want to tell my boss I had to go for probation.”
During the morning break Barnetson asked if, because he was in custody, he would be served lunch.
The request was denied by the sheriff.
A further request to be able to leave the courtroom to have a cigarette, or get a cookie, was also turned down.
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