A “chronic prolific offender” who pried open three mailboxes and stole mail from a Quayside apartment building ran out of chances in B.C. provincial court last month.
On Oct. 3, Darren Patrick Graham, 38, pleaded guilty to four different property offences, including a break-in at 2 Renaissance Square in New West where he was caught on video at 3 a.m. on Nov. 24, 2016 prying open three mailboxes and stealing mail.
Over the past 19 years, Graham, who is addicted to crystal methamphetamine, has had 100 convictions, for property and drug crimes and a number of assaults, according to court documents.
“I have had the accused before me since his arrival in Vancouver,” stated provincial court judge Thomas Gove in his reasons for sentence Oct. 3. “In sentencing him, I have sent him to recovery programs and to jail. He has been, up until now, on the Downtown Community Court Case Management Team where he has had significant resources available to him to address his housing, mental health, and addiction.”
Graham’s lawyer argued he should be given time-and-a-half credit for the 92 days he had already spent in custody and released on a conditional sentence order.
But Gove ruled the time had come to put more emphasis on the protection of the public.
“The court accepts that his drug addiction is a medical issue and will not likely be successfully addressed in the criminal justice system or by the court,” stated Gove. “… All the court can do for the accused is to push or coerce him into programs that he may accept and to receive help. This has been done for almost 20 years. The court also must look to the protection of the public – the protection of the community from criminal conduct. Once an offender’s record gets to what the accused’s now is, over 100 convictions, although his rehabilitation remains a goal, an important goal, more emphasis must be put on the protection of the public.”
After giving Graham time-and-a-half credit for 92 days served, he sentenced him to another seven-and-a-half months in jail and one year of probation.
Among his probation orders is an order to stay away from 2 Renaissance Square.
