DAD BEGS JUDGES TO HELP SON

A St. John's father vividly recalls his son's first run-in with the
law. No surprise, since it was only three months ago, on Aug. 4 --
Regatta Day.

"He said he wanted 40 bucks from his mother to go to the Regatta,"
Dave (not his real name) says of his 14-year-old son. Neither can be
named to protect the identity of his son.

Truth be told, his son was "strung out" on the drug ecstasy and needed
the cash for another hit.

Dave wasn't there. He got a call that morning from his ex-wife telling
him their son was becoming violent and demanding the money.

"He was never in trouble with the law before that," says Dave,
struggling to contain his emotions. "But he's gotten so far out of
control since then, it's outrageous. Within three months, it's
absolute chaos."

His son became so agitated that police were called, and were about to
use pepper spray when Dave arrived at his ex-wife's home.

"He was swinging a hockey stick at (the officers') heads. He was
completely out to lunch on the drug."

That was the day, Dave notes, his son "entered the
system."

It's a system, he says, that offers kids the chance to re-offend, not
reform.

"You should see them sitting there in the courtroom every day,
giggling in the back, waiting for their turn to be released."

Set free

Dave's anger is directed at the "revolving courtroom door" that
refuses to hold teens responsible for their actions, putting most back
on the street within hours or days of an offence.

He points to a recent case in Nova Scotia in which a teaching
assistant was struck and killed by a stolen car driven by a teenager.

The 16-year-old was released two days before the crash by a youth
court judge in Windsor, N.S., despite being wanted on an arrest
warrant on 26 charges in Halifax.

A full public inquiry into questions surrounding the death was
launched last week by that province's justice minister.

"There is sufficient public interest in this matter to warrant an
inquiry," said Nova Scotia Justice Minister Michael Baker.

The teen's mother told the media shortly after the accident that she
has pleaded with the justice system to deal with her son more sternly
than it has in the past.

Earlier last week, Baker called on Ottawa to amend the Youth Criminal
Justice Act to make crimes, such as car theft, more serious than just
simply property offences.

Early release

Dave's son was convicted of malicious damage, assaulting a police
officer and resisting arrest at his mom's home.

He was released two days later with orders to "keep the peace and be
of good behaviour."

Less than a week later, the 14-year-old was with three others who
stole a sport utility vehicle, triggering a high-speed chase with
police through the streets of St. John's.

The stolen vehicle crashed, injuring all four. At the time, his son
claimed he was driving and "took the rap."

The Crown, said Dave, was about to release him on the same conditions,
until he intervened.

"I had to stand up in court and tell them I pleaded with them not
to just let him go again like that. I said, 'What if he goes out
tonight and kills someone? Will you sleep at night?' "

After a short recess, the Crown agreed to send the boy to the
Whitbourne youth corrections centre for a month.

Real culprit

A few weeks later, it was discovered someone else was driving and
Dave's son was released with no conditions.

A week later, his son was again charged with stealing a
car.

"He goes to court released again. I mean, where does this stop?
How do we get someone to keep him in custody to show them that
there are consequences (for their actions)?"

Dave said he was told that because his son didn't have a criminal
record, they couldn't hold him.

"They said the other stuff, for a young offender, wasn't a criminal
record to the court. And we wonder why our police are up in arms?
They're already understaffed and you can see why they're fed up
with all the young punks."

Dave loves his son, but also realizes he's fallen into the cracks of
the system -- a system that doesn't seem to have proper safeguards to
put kids, like his, back on the right track.

Programs are offered by groups -- such as pre-trial services, and
one-on-one counselling -- but they can't operate alone, he said.

Drug problem

"They'll tell you (my son is) a good kid, but he's got a drug problem
and he'll feed it whatever way he can feed it.

"But if the court is just going to release, release, release, it can't
work. They have to work together. Right now, all they do is give them
conditions and put them right back in the same situation that put them
in court.

"Yes, it is a vicious circle, with no win, no end."

Dave also bemoans the lack of a drug rehabilitation centre for
troubled youth in St. John's.

"I don't understand why, if he spends time in jail, the judge doesn't
take it upon himself to say, 'OK, here's the conditions: keep the
peace, etc., and here's a curfew. We'll test you for drugs, and every
time you falter, and we find it in your system, we will breach you --
send you back in."

Money paid

The breaking point for Dave was a letter his son received after
spending 33 days in custody at Whitbourne.

"They sent him a cheque for 33 bucks for good behaviour while he
was there. What's he do with that? He goes out to find another seven
dollars and he's got his fix (for ecstasy)."

The immediate solution, he says, is for judges to get tougher with
re-offenders.

"We need judges who'll take it upon themselves to remand them for
30, 60 or 90 days, at least. They need a wakeup call.

"If you break any condition, automatically you're picked up and gone
for another 30 days to think about it. Don't you think eventually the
wind is going to be taken out of their sails?

"But if they know they'll just be released every time, there's no
reason to stop breaking the law."

Tough love

One lawyer even suggested Dave have his son picked up under the Mental
Health Act, to keep him out of trouble for awhile.

"I don't know about that. Tough love is hard sometimes, but if that's
what it takes."