B.C. Woman Sentenced To 18 Months Probation For Campbell River Incident During Pandemic

A British Columbia judge has sentenced a Vancouver Island woman to 18 months of probation for deliberately coughing in the face of a grocery store employee and shoving her shopping cart into another worker during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The judge found Kimberly Brenda Woolman guilty in April of assaulting the employees and causing a disturbance at the Save-On-Foods in Campbell River.

The incident occurred three years prior, on April 24, 2020, when provincial health orders required stores to limit the number of customers allowed inside and required shoppers to stay at least two metres apart.

Five store employees provided first-hand evidence during the three-day trial, testifying that Woolman refused to follow the store's COVID-19 mitigation measures, refused to leave the store when asked, and shouted that COVID-19 was fake.

The judge wrote her decision on July 19th and noted that Woolman was similarly aggressive and rude to witnesses and to the court during her trial.

Crown prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Woolman to 18 months of probation and a $1,000 fine.

Woolman, who had no prior criminal record, told the court she was unable to pay a fine due to her limited income.

In her sentencing decision, the judge declined the recommended fine and instead imposed 18 months of probation and ordered Woolman to avoid the Save-On-Foods store.