BARRIE, ONT.—An armed robber dubbed as “Bad Santa” by the media was handed a 10-year sentence in court Wednesday.

Justice Jonathan Bliss said Robert Collings, 27, of Bradford, “traumatized” customers and employees at five pharmacies in York Region and Bradford over an 83-day period in late 2016 and early 2017.

“A pharmacist described a robbery as quite violent. He would push employees and customers around,” Bliss said.

In one of those robberies, Collings donned a Santa hat and white beard and shouted ‘Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas everyone’ as he entered the drugstore.

While Collings stole narcotics, including fentanyl, and did use some drugs, he was not a full-blown addict, Bliss said.

Collings’ robberies were well-planned and were not fuelled by an intense need to get drugs for an addiction, Bliss said.

“It was seen as a job,” Bliss said. “It was about the money and the criminal lifestyle.”

When police checked Collings’ computer, they found he was searching for stories about ‘Bad Santa’ robberies.

“He was enamoured by his own press,” Bliss said. “He was ego-driven and revelled in the notoriety.”

Collings’ accomplice Cole Boardman, 22, who was only at the Bradford robbery, was an opioid addict and helped Collings sell the drugs on the street. Boardman was sentenced to 3 ½ years.

Collings ended up confessing his part in the crimes after South Simcoe police arrested the men in Bradford in January 2017 after they left a basement apartment, where police found narcotics and a Santa hat.

Police had Collings at gunpoint in a parking lot following one robbery, where he “manhandled” a pharmacist and threatened to stab him, but he jumped in his car and fled. Police abandoned the chase after losing sight of his vehicle in heavy fog.

Officers did find the vehicle with a knife inside, allowing them to retrieve fingerprints, which eventually led to him being connected to the robberies.

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Collings has been in custody since his arrest. But Boardman received bail and was under house arrest until the sentencing.

Neither man had a criminal record prior to their arrests.