A Campbell River woman who became irate at physical-distancing measures and forcibly coughed in the face of a grocery store supervisor in the early days of the pandemic has been sentenced to 18 months of probation.
In April, provincial court Judge Barbara Flewelling convicted Kimberly Woolman of causing a disturbance and two counts of assault. The judge found the 60-year-old Woolman guilty of assault by coughing in the face of Save-on-Foods supervisor Jacqueline Poulton, and of assaulting assistant store manager Gordon Dawson by ramming her shopping cart into him.
Flewelling also convicted Woolman of causing a disturbance by yelling and swearing that “COVID wasn’t f---ing real” during the incident in the store on April 24, 2020.
At the time, provincial health officials were urging people to maintain at least two metres of distance between themselves and others.
The trial heard that Woolman entered the store and “aggressively asked” why an area near the checkout was blocked off. When Poulton explained it was required to prevent congestion to comply with public health orders, Woolman told her COVID was not real.
Woolman said she would not obey the physical-distancing measures. She was asked her to leave but instead walked toward the back of the store, followed by Poulton. She screamed that COVID was fake, then suddenly stopped walking and turned around and coughed two times in the direction of Poulton’s face.
Poulton told her to immediately leave the store. But Woolman continued walking away with her grocery cart, yelling that COVID wasn’t real.
Two other employees arrived to help Poulton guide Woolman from the store. Then a fourth employee, who came to help the others, “essentially kept her encircled and moving forward so she would leave.”
Dawson arrived at the entrance to the store to help the others. He took hold of the front of Woolman’s cart to prevent her leaving with unpaid groceries. Woolman tried to wrestle the cart out of his hands, then pushed it into him.
Flewelling found that Woolman’s coughing on Poulton was deliberate and intentional. She concluded that coughing results in an expulsion of air and that secretions from air, such as respiratory droplets, may be infected with a virus.
On April 24, 2020, public health officials said COVID-19 was spread by droplets expelled from lung air, particularly to people within two metres of the droplets.
Flewelling found that Woolman was aggressive and rude that day and during her trial.
It would have been easy for Woolman to comply with the reasonable and lawful request to adhere to social distancing; instead, she embarked on a tirade about her belief that COVID‑19 was not real, the judge wrote in her sentencing decision.
“While she is entitled to have her own beliefs about COVID 19, she was not entitled to insist that she did not have to follow rules that were put in place by the Provincial Health Officer to protect people during a Pandemic and, at a time, when much was still unknown about the virus. It was the height of selfishness and self-entitlement.”
Flewelling found it aggravating that Woolman assaulted and disparaged five employees who were required to work on the front lines during the pandemic and faced the greatest risk of contracting the virus.
She found it mitigating that Woolman had no prior criminal record.
“A just society is also a civil, peaceful society. It needs to be brought home to Ms. Woolman and others who are like-minded, that our laws, including public health orders and the Criminal Code, apply to everyone. Ms. Woolman assaulted two front line workers and caused a disturbance in the Save On Foods store that day because she didn’t want to follow a public health order that she maintain a distance of six feet from other people. It was far from an onerous law to follow. Her actions were intentional and her moral blameworthiness is high.”
Although the Crown had also asked for a $1,000 fine, Flewelling said she realized that due to Woolman’s limited financial means, she would be unable to pay it. Denunciation and deterrence are served by virtue of the fact that Woolman will have a criminal record, said the judge.
During her probation, Woolman must not go to Save-on-Foods in Campbell River and must have no contact with Poulton.
