A repeat offender who robbed a teen at knifepoint shouldn‘t be warehoused in prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Willie Johnny, an alcoholic and solvent abuser, will spend time in jail and complete three years of probation in his home reserve near Williams Lake. Prosecutors asked for a prison term of four to five years.
Jailing Johnny hasn‘t stopped him from reoffending in the past, so Judge Gale Sinclair is challenging elders in Johnny‘s native community to rehabilitate him.
“It is time to try something different for Mr. Johnny‘s sake, and hopefully for the sake of the community at large,” Sinclair said. “If I warehoused him for four to five years, I‘d do nothing to address his situation or reoffending.”
Johnny threatened a 13-year-old boy with a knife and told him “I‘m a warrior and kill white people” during a September holdup in Lake Country. He let the boy go when he gave him $5.
Johnny was convicted of two robberies and an attempted robbery in the Williams Lake area between 1992 and 2004. He used a gun in two of the crimes. He spent more than five years behind bars with no therapy or counselling. He suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and endured a horrendous childhood, court heard.
The Anahim band near Alexis Creek offered to give Johnny a home and support. Sinclair sentenced him to 18 months jail – seven months after time served – and strict probation.
He must get assessed for fetal alcohol syndrome and First Nations counselling, get residential treatment and take an aboriginal roots program. He must abstain from drugs and alcohol, and return $5 to his victim.
“Somebody lend him five bucks,” Sinclair said. “I want you back in your home nation and your native ways. … Good luck.” Top of Page
