APPEAL COURT PICKS PUNISHMENT OVER REHABILITATION

Panel Decides Provincial Court Judge Erred In Granting Leniency

The B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a three-year prison term for a
homeless, crack-addicted New Westminster burglar in a decision that
would make Charles Dickens wince.

Justices Catherine Ryan, Mary Saunders and Risa Levine unanimously
ruled Provincial Court Judge Deirdre Pothecary erred in showing
leniency to David Gerald Powis in the hope of rehabilitation.

The appeal panel said the pathetic 47-year-old street thief must be
jailed in a penitentiary to break his cycle of crime and addiction.

It smacked of 19th-century decisions in which the famished were
imprisoned for stealing bread.

But it might be right.

The offences Powis committed were serious -- four were committed
while he was on bail awaiting trial -- and the victim-impact
statements heart-rending.

The residual sense of violation and fear cannot be minimized.

Still the legal system is clogged with a veritable plague of people
such as Powis who have turned to crime because they are too poor to
support their drug habits and too damaged to stop using and
rehabilitate themselves.

Powis committed a series of seven break-ins in New Westminster
between Jan. 10 and March 24 last year. The first was a store, the rest homes.

He was arrested on Jan. 10 after breaking into the store on 6th
Street by smashing a window with a rock -- his modus operandi if it
can be called that.

Police, summoned by the alarm, tracked Powis down nearby.

He is no mastermind.

Powis spent the night in jail and was released on bail.

He was supposed to report to a bail supervisor a week later but
didn't bother -- probably high and forgot.

A warrant for his arrest was issued Jan. 23 and he was arrested on
Jan. 27 for failure to abide by his bail conditions.

He was released the same day.

Once again, Powis failed to report Feb. 7-- I think it's a safe bet
he was probably high again and forgot. Surprise!

A warrant was issued for his arrest.

In the morning of Feb. 10, he broke into a home on Queens Avenue by
smashing the kitchen-door window.

He grabbed a computer monitor and ran because someone was home and
started screaming. A passing stranger heard the cries, saw Powis
fleeing and gave chase.

Powis dropped the monitor and escaped.

But police recovered fingerprints from the computer and arrested
Powis later that day, but not for the foiled snatching.

No, they hadn't put that together with him yet, so he was charged for
his earlier breach of his bail conditions.

He was released again Feb. 13.

Not surprisingly, on Feb. 21, he broke into a home on Prescott Street
by smashing a bedroom window. He cut himself.

He ransacked the house, leaving a trail of blood, and made off with a
laptop computer.

A week later, Powis smashed the window at the rear of a home on
Hamilton Street. He cut himself again.

Once more, he trashed the home, stole a number of items and about
$250 in U.S. cash. He left blood splattered everywhere.

On March 1, he broke the back-door window on a Dublin Street home,
but couldn't get in. He came around to the front and smashed the
front door window, cutting himself yet again.

An alarm went off so Powis ripped the alarm monitor from the wall.

He escaped with a computer, leaving a trail of gore.

Think for a moment about all the blood-and-fingerprint, crime scene
investigation data collected in these petty thefts. Think of the
effort and cost of processing and analysing it.

On March 15, Powis burgled a home on Nanaimo Street using the
old-smash-the-window trick. He hadn't got any better at it -- he left
blood all over the place again.

Of course, he ransacked the home, stealing a digital camera, computer
monitor and a small amount of money.

On March 24, a neighbour saw him burgling another home and called
police. He was arrested hiding in the attic.

With Powis back securely in the clutches of the system, the second
half of this law-and-order tragedy began.

Powis appeared before Judge Pothecary on June 21.

At that time, however, he was only charged with the Jan. 10 break-in
of the store, the Feb. 10 break-in where he left a finger-print, and
the March 24 break-in where he had been arrested in the attic.

The other charges hadn't caught up with him yet.

As best the court could determine, and it could not establish it with
certainty, Powis was born in Quebec.

He was unable to supply the names of any family or records, so no one is sure.

He says he moved to the U.S. where he enlisted in the air force and
became a jet mechanic.

Later, he developed a cocaine-and-crack habit.

Powis was busted in California in 1996 and the prospect of U.S. jail
time prodded him to return to Canada.

He was convicted in August of 1998 in New Westminster of drug
possession and sentenced to one year of probation.

Two months later, he was convicted of trafficking and sentenced to 21
days imprisonment.

A week later, he received one day for shoplifting.

In November 1998, he was convicted of trafficking and breaching an
undertaking and sentenced to 45 days and 30 days concurrent.

In March 1999, he was sentenced to 60 days for breach of a probation order.

In February 2002, Powis was sentenced to one month in prison for
possession of stolen property over $5,000.

In October 2002, it was trafficking but he was allowed to walk free
based on time served awaiting trial.

On June 21, 2006, he pleaded guilty in front of Judge Pothecary and
received 60 days in jail for the commercial break-and-enter and a
six-month conditional sentence of imprisonment to be followed by
probation for the other two break-ins.

In imposing these sentences, Pothecary also ordered him to provide a
sample for the DNA bank.

Released from jail a month later, on July 31, Powis was told to
report to a probation officer on Aug. 4, but guess what -- he didn't
show up. Dare I say he was high again and forgot after being out of
stir for only four days?

Guess what else?

Not only couldn't they find him (off on a spree), but sometime after
he was released to serve his conditional sentence, the police checked
Powis's DNA and solved the break-ins he committed on Feb. 21, 28,
March 1 and 15 -- the ones in which he left all that CSI evidence.
It's enough to break your heart.

But these followups take time, money and effort, and there are always
fresh, more pressing cases on the police blotter.

On Aug. 12, Powis was arrested and charged with the four break and enters.

He pleaded guilty Nov. 3.

Two "report cards" prepared by officials at the North Fraser Pretrial
Centre indicate that in jail, Powis repaired television sets, was
training an apprentice and was a model prisoner.

Judge Pothecary said Powis had the capacity, if given a chance, to
obtain employment, refrain from drug use and get off the street.

She wanted to give him that chance and gave him an 18-month
conditional sentence on the four latest charges.

But there is scant money for the treatment and support programs to
help people like Powis. Moreover, as the appeal court said, he hadn't
even been able to find a place to live.

A conditional sentence, the appeal court found, was inappropriate.

I agree for different reasons.

There is lots and lots of money to get Powis a lawyer and to pay for
the cops, lab technicians, judges, jailers and support staff needed
to process him as a criminal. But not nearly enough to help him
reclaim his life and become a productive member of society.

None of the legal system's considerable expense and effort helped or
addressed the root cause of his crimes -- his addiction.

In jailing him, the appeal court noted without irony: "Sadly, if he
could conquer the addiction, he might have the ability and work
skills to live comfortably in the community."