A A

A judge has strongly condemned the actions of a former Halifax Regional Police officer who stole $425 from a taxi driver during a traffic stop last summer.

“This case involves an egregious breach of trust by a police officer against a member of the public he was sworn to serve and protect,” Judge Alanna Murphy said Tuesday at the sentencing of Anthony George Sparks in Dartmouth provincial court.

An offence committed by a police officer has a detrimental impact on society, the judge said.

“It brings the administration of criminal justice into disrepute,” she said. “It can erode trust that people should be able to have in law enforcement officers. It has the potential to tarnish unfairly other police officers who go about their duties honestly but now have to deal with the taint of what was done by a colleague who acted dishonestly in the course of his duties.”

But Murphy refused to send Sparks, 45, to jail as requested by the Crown, instead giving him a nine-month conditional sentence.

The judge said Sparks has already suffered extrajudicial consequences for his actions, including the loss of a “meaningful career” after 13 years with the police force.

“Mr. Sparks was proud to be a police officer,” she said. “Because of this offence, it is very unlikely he will be able to get employment in this field or similar fields again. … He must begin over as a middle-aged man, now with a criminal record, to find a new source of employment.

“This case, understandably so, has been the subject of public interest. It has been the subject of reports and commentary in traditional and social media. And I accept that it is a reality that Mr. Sparks has suffered humiliation and embarrassment in front of his family, his friends, former colleagues and the public generally. He has to deal with the shame of that.”

Sparks was on duty in Dartmouth last Aug. 12 at about 1:25 a.m. when he stopped cabbie Houssen Milad for speeding on Highway 111.

The incident was captured on a video camera in the taxi, a Lincoln SUV.

Sparks permitted Milad to leave the vehicle during the stop to do his morning prayers.

While the driver was away from the taxi praying, Sparks reached into the vehicle, grabbed a pouch from the centre console and took it to his cruiser. He put the pouch back in the taxi about three minutes later.

Later that morning, Milad realized $425 was missing from the pouch. He contacted police, who referred the complaint to the Serious Incident Response Team, an independent agency that investigates police officers in Nova Scotia.

Sparks immediately regretted his actions and tried to contact Milad 15 times that morning to return the money. He admitted what he had done when he was interviewed by a SIRT investigator later that day.

The money was recovered from Sparks’ personal vehicle and returned to the taxi driver.

Sparks resigned from the force before he pleaded guilty in October to a charge of theft under $5,000.

The judge heard sentencing submissions in January. Crown attorney Rick Miller asked for six to nine months in jail while defence lawyer Brian Bailey said his client was an ideal candidate for a conditional sentence, which would allow him to serve a term of incarceration in the community.

Sparks told the court he acted impulsively when he saw the money in the pouch, but neither he nor his lawyer offered an explanation for his behaviour.

The judge said the crime has had a profound impact on the taxi driver. In a victim impact statement, Milad said he has suffered extreme stress and anxiety because of the offence.

“It is clear that he had a heightened sense of vulnerability as an immigrant from Libya,” Murphy said of Milad. “The fact that the perpetrator of this offence against him was a police officer who had taken advantage of a situation while he was praying … contributed to a very significant impact upon him.

“Mr. Milad further wonders if he would have been believed had there been no video proof of what occurred. His sense of personal safety has been seriously undermined by this offence.”

The judge said she carefully considered the facts of the case, the circumstances of the offender and the impact of the offence on the community and the victim in deciding on the sentence.

She said that while a period of imprisonment is necessary and appropriate, it need not be served in an institution.

“I am satisfied that your serving the sentence in the community will not endanger its safety and is consistent with the fundamental purposes and principles of sentencing,” Murphy told Sparks.

The judge ordered him to not to consume or possess alcohol or drugs or have any weapons while serving his conditional sentence.

Sparks also must complete 80 hours of community service during the first seven months of the sentence.

He will be on house arrest at his Cole Harbour residence for the first four months of the sentence and must observe an 11 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew for the following four months.

He also has to take part in any counselling deemed necessary by his sentence supervisor and cannot have any contact with the victim.