A selfie pic with a dying man has resulted in two months of jail time for a London man.
Bubba Pollock, who took a photo with a woman’s dying father after he and the woman clashed online, was sentenced in a Windsor courtroom on Friday.
Justice Mark Hornblower described Pollock’s act as “an exercise of power over someone else, intended to send a message of intimidation.”
Hornblower ruled that an incarceration period of 60 days is necessary to “denounce conduct of this nature.”
Pollock was also handed three years of probation, which includes a 12-month ban from social media use.
Buibba Pollock of London in an image shared on Facebook by Britt Leroux. (Facebook)
Dressed in a blue suit, Pollock showed no emotion and seemed unaffected during Hornblower’s reading of the sentence. While Hornblower was still speaking, Pollock conferred with his legal counsel and drank from a water bottle.
Pollock pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of criminal harassment. The charge stems from Pollock’s actions in June 2023.
Pollock — who has protested in London against drag queen story time events — had argued online with Britt Leroux, a Windsor-based Pride supporter and 2SLGBTQ+ activist.
The court heard that Pollock learned the location of Leroux’s elderly, cancer-stricken father, Andre Leroux, who was undergoing palliative care at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
Pollock then drove from London to Windsor, entered the hospital and gained access to Andre Leroux’s room, taking a photo of himself smiling with the terminally-ill man unconscious in the background.
The selfie pic was posted in a Facebook comment thread visible to Britt Leroux — much to her shock.
The selfie image that Bubba Pollock of London took and posted in the hospital room of Andre Leroux, father of Britt Leroux, at the Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare campus on June 14, 2023. (Britt Leroux)
During previous court proceedings, assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes described Pollock’s behaviour in the incident as “illegal, immoral,” and “rotten.” She was seeking six months of jail time.
Pollock’s lawyer, Ron Ellis, argued that his client has issues with “impulsivity” and was only trying to “win an argument.” He asked for a suspended sentence (community service without jail time) or a conditional sentence (house arrest).
But on Friday, Hornblower said a suspended sentence or a conditional sentence are insufficient in this case.
The judge said Pollock’s actions “reflect planning and deliberation — not impulsivity.”
Hornblower pointed to a separate case against Pollock in 2019, when Pollock was convicted of posting an intimate image without consent.
Drawing a comparison, Hornblower said Pollock had again used social media “for nefarious purposes.”
Part of Pollock’s probation order is that he must avoid all contact with Britt Leroux and her family, and keep at least 100 metres away from her at all times.
Britt Leroux attended Friday’s sentencing with her partner, John Reh, and several supporters. She became emotional and burst into tears when Pollock was led away to begin his sentence.
The sentencing was also attended by about a dozen supporters of Pollock, who continued to jeer at Leroux outside the courthouse.
More to come.