A provincial court judge spoke out against a broken social welfare system this week as she released a homeless man with mental disabilities back on to the streets after he pled guilty to breaking in to a North Vancouver garage a few days before Christmas.
Describing Derek Delaurier's situation as "tragic," Judge Joanne Challenger of the North Vancouver provincial court said Tuesday, "I despair in the kinds of effort that's been wasted in pursuing him in the criminal justice system.
"We have chosen as a society to no longer house people like Mr. Delaurier," yet still refuse to provide the support "he so desperately needs," said the judge.
Challenger said she would release Delaurier back into the community - as many other judges have done before - because it's "the only humane thing" she could do. "It's tragic that he's back before the courts again and again," she said.
Delaurier, 41, was arrested Dec. 18 in North Vancouver after a homeowner in the 300-block of West 20th Street saw him coming out of their garage carrying a bag. Delaurier dropped the bag and ran away as soon as he was spotted. Shortly after, he went into another home, two blocks away, by opening an unlocked basement door. When the person who was home upstairs heard him, Delaurier climbed out a window and ran away again, but was soon caught by police.
It's a scenario that's been repeated many times before, said Delaurier's lawyer Henry Brown. Delaurier has more than 60 similar minor property offences on his record.
But that isn't likely to change, said Brown, unless Delaurier gets the support that he needs.
Brown said Delaurier - who is of Cree descent - has been diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, an inherited disorder marked by facial abnormalities, neurological and behavioural problems and progressive mental retardation. There is no cure for the disease.
Although chronologically 41, his client has the mental age of a child said Brown, with an IQ of between 50 and 60.
He isn't violent, said Brown, but has no ability to control his impulses or understand consequences of his actions.
That's resulted in his client being kicked out of most programs that have tried to help him in less than a month, because he doesn't fit in, said the lawyer.
Although he was born in North Vancouver and still has some contact with his mother, Delaurier has lived on the streets, mostly in the Downtown Eastside, for the past 23 years, and doesn't like to stay in shelters, said Brown. He said Delaurier survives off a small disability allowance, supplementing that with dumpster diving.
Brown said Vancouver Coastal Health has recently provided Delaurier with a worker to help him 10 hours a week - which is an improvement. But Delaurier needs much more help than that, said Brown. "All of this could have been avoided if he had the one-toone worker he needed," said Brown.
While Brown described his situation to the hushed courtroom, Delaurier sat rocking back and forth in the prisoner's dock.
Challenger sentenced him to one day in jail plus time served and probation, noting that Delaurier would likely be back - to face more charges in a system ill-equipped to help him.
"He'll continue to be back before the courts over and over and over again," she said.
