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BARRHEAD – A 15-year-old Barrhead-area youth has been handed a 12-month conditional sentence and 30 hours of community service after pleading guilty to break-and-enter with intent.
Justice Jeffery Champion, who accepted a joint submission from Crown and defence on Aug. 26 in Barrhead Court of Justice, cautioned the teen about the dangers of alcohol, noting “not much good comes from it.”
Conditions include that the accused attend any assessment, treatment or counselling as directed, stay away from the business he broke into, and maintain full-time attendance in school.
The Crown said on Aug. 5, the Barrhead RCMP responded to a report of a potential break-and-enter attempt at a local business.
She noted when police arrived, they found that someone had thrown a rock through a back window, and there was blood on the glass where it looked like the offender(s) had cut themselves upon entry.
She added that video footage shows two youths, one, the accused, entering the business, with the other "standing watch".
"[The police] found the youths a short distance away, where they were both arrested without incident," the Crown said.
The Crown also noted that this is the first time the accused has been in trouble with the court, and also credited him for the early guilty plea.
The youth's lawyer called the crime one of impulse, saying his client has issues with impulse control, as he suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
At the time of the offence, he said, his client had also been drinking.
The defence added his client has stopped drinking and will soon be moving to Ontario, where he is originally from, and where he has more family support.
He said the youth understands his mistake and is ready to start building his life, saying his client's eventual goal is to become a video game designer.
Champion accepted the joint submission, calling it appropriate given the circumstances.
However, he told the youth to take his
"You are a young offender right now and have a lot of years ahead of you, but it doesn't take very much to [derail your life], and a criminal record can close a lot of doors," Champion said. "It is very important that you learn a lesson from this. If you were an adult, [doing what you did], not only closes doors, but it opens doors to courtrooms like this one and doing some time in prison."
Later in the session, Champion also sentenced the other youth involved, a 13-year-old, to the same sentence.
Like the first accused, the youth was drinking.
"This is a serious offence. [The two accused] broke into a property and did damage. It is appropriate that some of the sentence be in the community in the form of community service along with rehabilitation, which is what the probation part of the sentence is," the Crown said.
Champion echoed much of what he said to the first accused, especially cautioning the youth on the use of alcohol.
"You are 13. You can't handle alcohol at this stage," he said. "In fact, very few people can handle alcohol. Most of the stories I hear in court begin with alcohol. Very few good things start with alcohol."
Champion, as he did with the previous youth, told him to use it as a learning experience.
"Even though you are only 13, you can still walk away from a bad situation. Just because someone says this will be fun or cool. You know what is right," he said. "You are at a fork in the road right now. One is to be one of these teenagers who gets into drinking, doing weed and other drugs, shoplifting, break-and-entering and other stupid decisions and you will get arrested again. Or you can be someone who looks back in 30 years and says, I made one foolish decision when I was 13 and I learned from it."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
