ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — One of two men charged in connection with a bank robbery in St. John's in November is expected to plead guilty and head straight to sentencing when he makes his next court appearance.
Adam Hayden, 31, appeared in provincial court in St. John's briefly Wednesday morning by video from Her Majesty's Penitentiary, though his lawyer, Randy Piercey, was in the courtroom.
Piercey indicated Hayden wanted to set a date to be sentenced on the charges connected to the robbery as well as a charge of shoplifting from Sobeys laid earlier the same month.
"If everything goes according to plan, your matter should be disposed of at that time," Judge Mike Madden told Hayden, confirming his next appearance for May 29.
Hayden and co-accused Travis Wade, 33, are accused of holding up the TD Bank on Kelsey Drive, demanding cash from employees, forcibly confining a person and assaulting two people with a knife and a shotgun. Hayden allegedly fired a shot into the ceiling during the robbery before the pair escaped.
Wade was arrested after the two robbery suspects crashed their pickup on nearby O'Leary Avenue while trying to make their getaway on slippery snow-covered roads.
Hayden reportedly ran away and attempted to carjack a couple on Kenmount Road, pointing the gun at the driver and assaulting him with it. The driver was an off-duty RCMP officer, who held Hayden until officers arrived to take him into custody.
Wade will also make a court appearance May 29, though he has not yet indicated how he plans to deal with them. He has unrelated matters set to be heard in court in Harbour Grace, but has requested them to be transferred to St. John's.
Both men have criminal histories involving robberies. Wade was sentenced to three years in jail in 2012 for an armed robbery of a gas station two years earlier, during which he wielded a hammer and demanded cash and cigarettes. He told the cashier during the robbery, "I don't want to hurt you. I'm sorry, but I'm f---ed up."
Hayden's last conviction was five years ago, for his role in a riot at HMP in which he and five other inmates took another inmate hostage until they were given cigarettes. The incident saw the prison damaged to the tune of about $100,000. Hayden made a plea deal, resulting in a 10-month jail sentence for a conviction on a charge of interfering with lawful use of property. A charge of hostage-taking was withdrawn.
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