At the beginning of 2011, beauty queen Sophie Laboissonniere proudly took home the Miss Congeniality title at the Miss Coastal Vancouver Pageant.

Yesterday, the 20-year-old's lawyer had to convince a judge that she deserved to keep her title — a much different type of judge than the three-time pageant contestant was used to dazzling.

As The Province reports, Laboissonniere was among the first tapped to appear in Vancouver Provincial court on charges stemming from last summer's Stanley Cup riot.

Vancouver police singled out the Richmond, B.C. native as part of a group that vandalized and looted London Drugs, a west-coast retail chain, on June 15.

On that night, the Vancouver Sun reports, a mob of 1000 battered the burglar-resistant glass and metal grill for two hours while terrified staff at the downtown store cowered inside. A police escort was required to get them safely off the premises.

Once the 25 employees were removed, 200 rioters swarmed into the building, stripping the cosmetics section, and stealing expensive camera and computer equipment.

"There were people with Molotov cocktails; this was not passion of the moment. These were people who came to riot," said London Drugs president and CEO Wynne Powell at the time, adding later that the store incurred $225,000-worth of damage and lost another $427,000 in stolen merchandise.

Laboissonniere was one of 60 people against whom police have laid charges for her alleged participation in the riot. She was charged with break-and-enter and participating in a riot.

Crown counsel has so far approved charges against 27 of the suspects and several have been scheduled to make their first appearance in court between Dec. 14 — 16.

Yesterday, eight of those suspects appeared before a judge, many of whom offered apologies for their actions to reporters waiting outside the courthouse.

Although Laboissonniere did not appear in person, her lawyer requested a hearing for next Monday and stated his client intended to enter a guilty plea.

For his part, Powell said he would be watching the upcoming court appearances very carefully, and added that he had provided police with very clear footage of the first looters coming into the store.

He said the chain had a high conviction rate for past shoplifting cases and he doesn't see why this case should be any different.

"Our track record is over 90 per cent conviction rate once we show the video," he told the paper. "I have great faith in the justice system."

Vancouver police estimate that upwards of 700 people will ultimately face charges for their participation in the riot.