The third of five teens arrested following a Barrie mall jewelry store robbery last Christmas had pleaded guilty and been released from custody. The 16-year-old from the Toronto area, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced to time served following nine months in custody. The jewelry store thief who was one of four masked young men captured on camera robbing Charm Diamond Centres Dec. 19, 2025, with hammers in hand. He and two others were denied bail following hearings in the weeks that followed the heist. The teen previously pleaded guilty to separate charges in a Newmarket courtroom in August. He admitted to robbing a woman while flashing a knife at a mall in Vaughan in September 2025. The youth pleaded guilty last month in Barrie to being part of a group of masked thieves, armed with hammers who rushed into the Georgian Mall and smashed up the jewelry store steps from where children were taking pictures with Santa. He also admitted to having a knife on him, which violated the conditions of his previous release for the Vaughan mall robbery months earlier. One of his co-accused admitted to using pepper spray on the Barrie mall security guard. The court heard of the trauma and fear the robbery caused staff at the jewelry store, which had to be closed during the busiest time of year to replace broken display cases and stolen property. The mall was evacuated while police searched for the thieves who were eventually tracked down in Essa Township. The court heard four of the thieves, including their then-17-year-old alleged getaway driver, crashed into a ditch before being arrested. In all, about $31,000 worth of rings, bracelets and necklaces with tags still attached, were recovered from a black backpack. A 14-year-old was the lone accused thief arrested in the mall. RELATED: Jewelry store thief released after guilty plea in Christmas mall robbery The alleged driver, now 18, had been out on bail until this summer, when his surety revoked bail with the Crown seeking a jail sentence. Justice Angela McLeod called the Toronto-area teen’s time in custody “a significant sentence,” while accepting the joint submission from the Crown and defence. He left the courthouse with family after being sentenced. RELATED: Teen jewelry store thief released after guilty plea Two of his co-accused, who were 15 and 17 at the time of the robbery, pleaded guilty earlier this year and were released after also being credited with time served. Several videos captured the entire early-afternoon robbery, which ended when a shopper was seen smacking one of the thieves over the head with a cane, before they fled. The two remaining teens are scheduled to return to court later this month. The allegations against them have not been tested in court.
