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It was the type of small-town crime that gets a brief write-up in the local newspaper’s police blotter and is easily forgotten: man armed with a spray can robs liquor store.

But a recent Alberta judge’s sentencing decision revealed the intricate layers he had to consider in the robbery’s aftermath: the store clerk who no longer felt safe; the store owner who lost her peace of mind but who asked the court “how can I help” prevent such incidents from happening again?; and the offender, a young Cree man who was on probation at the time but who showed remorse even during the commission of the crime — by asking his victim for a hug.

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The incident happened Feb. 24, 2018, at the family-owned Millet Liquor store in Millet, Alta., population 2,000, about 40 kilometres south of Edmonton.

I hate to do this to you, give me what’s in your till

Local media reports at the time said a tall man with stitches on his right eyebrow placed a 1.75-litre bottle of Smirnoff vodka on the counter and demanded all the money in the till while holding a spray can. The employee handed over the cash and wasn’t injured.