Vancouver Man Gets Conditional Sentence for Grocery Store Arson to Aid Shoplifting

A man who set a fire in a Vancouver grocery store to facilitate shoplifting has been sentenced to a two-year conditional sentence and two years of probation. Victor Atkinson, 50, pleaded guilty to arson to property for the March 30 incident at Nesters Market in the Downtown Eastside. He confessed to police that he started the fire as a distraction to continue shoplifting, which he does to support his drug use. Prosecutors argued the act posed extreme danger to hundreds of people in the packed store and surrounding apartments, seeking a two-year jail sentence. The Crown highlighted Atkinson's 14 prior property crime offenses, noting his admission to serial shoplifting. His defense counsel stated Atkinson had no malicious intent, believing the fire would only create smoke, and emphasized his substance misuse as the primary driver of his offenses. Atkinson, who has been in custody since March, is on methadone and has a room secured in supportive housing. The fire caused over $500,000 in damage and forced Nesters Market to close for two weeks, though no one was injured.

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The danger posed to anyone in the area was extreme and could have resulted in catastrophic loss of life.