Photo: KTW file

Kamloops provincial court

A man caught looting a house left uninhabitable by the devastating floods that hit Merritt in 2021 has been ordered to spend 18 months on probation.

Kody Robert Weymouth, 30, pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court on Wednesday to one count of break and enter to commit an indictable offence.

Court heard Weymouth and two others broke into a home in the 800-block of Pine Street in Merritt on Aug. 2, 2023.

Crown prosecutor Bonnie MacDonald said the Pine Street house was “very badly damaged” in the flood, and in the summer of 2023 it sat empty while the owners were waiting to find out whether repairs would be covered by insurance.

“The property was sitting in limbo for quite a period of time,” she said.

“The family that had previously lived there moved out because it was not inhabitable, but they left a significant amount of belongings in the residence.”

MacDonald said the home became a frequent target for looters.

“There were multiple break and enters at this residence, to the point where the owner of the property installed game cameras to try to catch the people that were doing the break and enters,” she said.

“Eventually, the game cameras were stolen.”

MacDonald said the homeowners eventually hired private security to keep an eye on the property, and that’s how Weymouth and his co-accused were busted — a guard on patrol noticed a pile of personal belongings sitting on the hot tub cover, so she investigated and called Mounties.

When police arrived, they arrested Weymouth, Trey Keigan Blaze Peters and Chelsey Nicole Dirksen. MacDonald said break-in tools were found in each of their possession. Weymouth said he was just looking around.

Defence lawyer John Gustafson said Weymouth is homeless and addicted to drugs, but he has a place lined up and wants to get clean.

“Although break and enter is always to be treated as a serious offence, the circumstances here are that the probability of running into the residents of the house were quite low,” he said.

"In fact, what he runs into instead is a security guard, and he is caught at the scene in what appears to be a very unsophisticated break and enter.”

Kamloops provincial court Judge Michelle Stanford went along with a joint submission for an 18-month period of probation — the same sentence already handed to both Peters and Dirksen.

While on probation, Weymouth will be prohibited from going to the property or having any contact with its owners. He will also be required to take counselling as directed by his probation officer and prohibited from possessing any break-in tools.

The Coldwater River water rose 2.5 times predicted high-water estimates in a matter of hours on Nov. 14, 2021, destroying flood warning systems, overcoming the city's dike infrastructure and flooding about 800 properties in low-lying areas.

More than 7,000 people were forced to evacuate.