ADDICTS PLEAD FOR JUDGE'S HELP

Brothers Say They Need Drug Counselling To Stop Committing Crimes

When they left their broken home as teenagers, Ian and Scott Page turned to
alcohol and before long, wound up hooked on drugs.

In order to feed their cocaine habit, the St. Catharines brothers resorted
to lives of crime.

And for years now, the pair has been caught up in a vicious cycle of drugs,
crime, courts and rehabilitation programs.

On Thursday, Scott Page, 28, and Ian Page, 29, found themselves handcuffed
together in Superior Court of Ontario charged with their most serious crime
yet, and pleading with a judge to help cure them of the addictions which
drive them to commit crimes.

On Feb. 25, the pair held up Christopher's Smoke Shop and Kloz Etc. in
downtown St. Catharines. While there were no weapons found when the pair
was nabbed shortly after the robbery, Scott Page hinted to both clerks he
had a gun, and told the clerk at Kloz he was going to "blow (her) brains
out" if she didn't listen to his demands.

The brothers pleaded guilty to robbery Thursday, and before sentencing
them, Justice Donald Taliano listened to their cries for help.

"I'm extremely sorry for what I did. I've got to get some help," Ian Page
said, adding that without counselling, "who knows what could happen next
time."

Scott Page said he's been under the influence of drugs and alcohol every
time he's committed a crime, including the most recent robbery.

"Obviously I wanted more cocaine," he said of his motivations. "I've never
been arrested in a sober state of mind."

When Taliano asked Scott Page why he kept turning back to drugs after he'd
been through rehabilitation programs, he said the addiction was just too
strong.

"I don't intend on it happening, but it always does."

Taliano warned him he couldn't waste any more time straightening out his life.

"This is the worst crime you've committed. You probably terrified these two
women," he said. "You're on the threshold ... where either things are going
to get a lot worse or get a lot better.

"You're still young enough to reconstruct your life."

Based on a joint submission from the Crown and defence, Taliano sentenced
Scott Page to two years less a day in jail. He sentenced Ian Page to one
year in jail, because Ian had a lesser involvement in the robbery - he
stood guard while his brother went into the shops.

Both men had been in custody since their arrest in February.

Taliano recommended their sentences be served at Ontario Correctional
Institute, a provincial facility which specializes in helping people with
drug and alcohol problems.

He also put them on probation for two years, and ordered them to get
addictions counselling.

He agreed with Crown and defence counsel that the best protection for
society would be to have both brothers get their addictions under control.

"This case shows how desperate and violent a cocaine addict can become,"
said Mike DelGobbo, Scott Page's lawyer. "Unless (Scott) gets the problem
under control, he will return to the criminal justice system."

That problem led Scott Page, wearing a hood and sunglasses, into
Christopher's Smoke Shop on James Street in February. With his brother
standing guard outside, he pushed the clerk towards the cash register and
demanded the money from the till, assistant Crown attorney Stacey Sheehan
told the court.

But Page went running out of the store when the clerk called out to someone
in the back room, pretending her boss was in the store.

On his way out, he grabbed some cigarettes and put a $10 bill on the counter.

Both brothers then headed to Kloz on St. Paul Street, where Ian Page again
stood guard while his brother went in and demanded money from the clerk.

"If you don't listen to me, I'm going to blow your ... brains out," he told
her, before grabbing the cash and thanking her on the way out the door.

Both men jumped into a taxi but police caught up with them a few blocks away.

As they were escorted out of the courtroom Thursday, Taliano wished them luck.

"I hope you will take the opportunity to address your problems," he said.