Alex Kurial/Local Journalism Initiative

A Sarnia woman who’s spent much of the past decade in and out of court, and jail, hit another snag in her recovery as 2020 came to a close.

Cassandra Plain, 31, was staying at the Inn of the Good Shepherd late last year when staff asked her to leave one morning. The reason: suspected drug use.

“She’s got involved with some of the nasty drugs that are floating around and she finds herself in custody right now because of that drug habit,” says Plain’s lawyer Robert McFadden in Sarnia Court Feb. 19. “She needs to address this problem.”

But Plain wasn’t prepared to address the problem the morning of Dec. 14. The first female employee who asked her to leave the Inn had her wrist grabbed by Plain before being kicked. Plain then turned her attention to another female employee, pushing and scratching her.

Plain kicked and damaged items inside the Inn before pulling the fire alarm on her way out. She was arrested four days later when officers found her and another man at a Queen St. apartment they’d broken into.

“She needs to get help, but during this COVID time all the help is sort of shut down,” says McFadden. “Hopefully as we get a handle on this pandemic… people with problems will get back to getting the help they need.”

“I’m sorry for my actions,” says Plain, who’s been in custody since her arrest. “I’m trying to get help, so I do hope I make it to treatment and change up the way I’ve been and stay away from drugs.”

Justice Krista Leszczynski accepted a joint submission from McFadden and Crown Attorney David Nicol for a six month sentence. Plain has 85 days left to serve. She can’t contact the women she assaulted, has a 10 year weapons ban, and is banned from the Inn of the Good Shepherd.

Plain’s legal issues won’t end with this sentence though. She still has 11 outstanding charges in London to resolve.

• The Independent