On what was scheduled to be the first day of her two-week trial at the Vernon Courthouse, an Armstrong, B.C. woman entered guilty pleas to four arson charges.
On Monday, Colette Leneveu admitted to four counts of arson damaging property in connection with a string of fires in Armstrong in 2018.
Her lawyer, Glenn Verdurmen, said the North Okanagan woman in her early 60s is “extremely apologetic for the injury she has caused to the property of the people…that have had damage to their homes and also that it caused a lot of consternation and fear in the community of Armstrong when fires were being lit and there was no explanation for it.”
Leneveu will be sentenced at a later date once a pre-sentence report had been completed.
Verdurmen said her mental health at the time of the fires will be a major factor in the sentencing.
“We are certainly not saying that she was not criminally responsible, but there was some things in her background that certainly compromised her ability to make good decisions at the time of the offences,” Verdurmen said.
Leneveu pleaded guilty to arson damaging property in connection with an early morning fire on March 8, 2018 on Warner Avenue in Armstrong. At the time, police said the blaze damaged a garage door and some vinyl siding.
According to police and court records, early the next morning, there were two more fires on the same Armstrong street, one involving the same property that was damaged by fire the night before.
In those cases, police said one attached garage was fully engulfed in flames while the other had “moderate” damage.
Leneveu has also entered guilty pleas in relation to both the March 9 fires, as well as a fourth fire on Okanagan Street on March 12, 2018.
Police said no one was hurt in connection with the fires.
Leneveu was facing seven charges of arson in relation to inhabited property but ended up pleading guilty to four counts of the lesser charge of arson damaging property.
Verdurmen said that is a reflection of the fact she didn’t intend to put other people’s lives at risk.
“That again will have some explaination when we talk about her mental health status at the time. She is a very peaceful person; she did not have any grudges or anger towards anybody,” Verdurmen said.
“She is sorry that those people were scared.”
The case will be back in court in February when a date could be fixed for sentencing depending on the completion the pre-sentencing report.