Stanley Cup rioter offers written apology in court

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A man convicted of taking part in the Stanley Cup riot has apologized in court, however he wasn’t forced to read his one-paged apology out loud.

Robert Snelgrove was convicted of stealing $150 in cosmetics from the Sears store downtown last June.

His lawyer, Chandra Corriveau, says the 25-year-old didn’t want to read the apology outside of court either because he has apologized three times already in the media and wants to move on with his life. Instead, Corriveau read part of the letter for him.

“I would never have wanted to do anything to bring down the reputation of this great city and the people in it,” writes Snelgrove. “This is why I feel so terrible about my own actions, as well as the actions of countless other people that committed crimes that night.”

Snelgrove was given a conditional sentence, including house arrest, and ordered to do 150 hours of community service.

But will saying sorry make things all better?

News1130 asked people if they accept Robert Snelgrove’s apology and if it even matters.

We got a variety of responses.

Although it doesn’t wash away the crime, one man thinks apologizing helps both the rioter and the city heal.
    
“If it’s a sincere apology, I guess it provides some peace and comfort in the public’s eye that he recognized there was some wrongdoing on his behalf, ” says one listener.

Some feel it would be easier to accept his apology if he read his letter aloud, as one man explains, “to me he’s a coward and not taking responsibility for what he did because he refused (to read it)…maybe he’s nervous or scared.”

Another News1130 listener says the apology doesn’t matter and feels rioters should pay out of their own pockets for the damage they’ve done.        

“It’s an apology letter.  I could write an apology letter and not mean it.   It’s meaningless…do I think they actually regret what they did, more than likely.”