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Youth pleads guilty to driving stolen car stoned

A Calgary youth pleaded guilty last week to driving a stolen vehicle to Canmore while he was under the influence of marijuana.

A Calgary youth pleaded guilty last week to driving a stolen vehicle to Canmore while he was under the influence of marijuana.

The youth, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to impaired driving, possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and failing to comply with conditions.

Judge Judy Shriar sentenced the 16-year-old to three months of open custody to be served as a conditional sentence order, a $500 fine for the impaired charge and a one-year driving prohibition.

“Mostly, it is your life that you are wrecking and you can do better, but it is your choice,” said the judge. “Your life has taken a bad path and taking it off that path is up to you.

“There are a lot of services and resources available to you.”

Crown prosecutor Deven Singhal said on Dec. 21, 2010 just after 8 a.m., Canmore RCMP responded to a complaint of a possible impaired driver.

He said RCMP located the suspected vehicle, which the youth was driving, and pulled it over.

“The police stopped the vehicle and spoke with the accused who displayed several signs of impairment,” Singhal said, adding the youth had glassy eyes, slowed speech and movements. “He did admit to having smoked marijuana before driving the vehicle.”

In addition to smoking the marijuana, Singhal said a baggie with 15 ecstasy pills belonging to the youth were found in the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado’s glove box.

He said the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Calgary Police Service earlier that same day.

“This young person is on a negative trajectory and has been for some time with a significant number of offences since August,” said the Crown. “It is this type of behaviour we are looking to correct.

“If he continues on this path he will have what we call a life jail sentence served on an instalment plan.”

Defence counsel Tyson Dahlem agreed with the sentence proposal calling it quite fair.

Dahlem pointed out the youth has been in custody since he was detained on Dec. 22.

He said once released the young man will live with his mother and is in the process of making arrangements to enter into a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Lethbridge.

“The main reason (he) is before your honour is he is addicted to drugs and when he suffers that addiction he does very foolish things,” Dahlem said.


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