WHAT IS ROBBERY?
Every person commits robbery who does any of the following:
(a) steals, and for the purpose of extorting whatever is stolen or to prevent or overcome resistance to the stealing, uses violence or threats of violence to a person or property;
(b) steals from any person and, at the time he steals or immediately before or immediately thereafter, wounds, beats, strikes or uses any personal violence to that person;
(c) assaults any person with intent to steal from him; or
(d) steals from any person while armed with an offensive weapon or imitation thereof.
Steal means to commit theft. Generally speaking, the difference between theft and robbery is that robbery involves actual violence, or the possibility of violence, to another person.
WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT FOR ROBBERY?
The offence of robbery carries a maximum jail sentence of life in prison. In cases where a firearm is used during the robbery, there is a mandatory minimum punishment of four years in the penitentiary. Where the firearm used is an imitation weapon, the minimum punishment is one year in jail. There are a number of additional sentencing options available for robbery charges, depending on the nature and circumstance of the offence.