Convicted burglar Elrys Todman is on his last strike, said High Court Justice Nicola Byer last week in a decision that will spare him from prison time.

 

While custodial sentences are the norm for people convicted of burglary, Ms. Byer said the defendant’s psychological and psychiatric issues call for a punishment that focuses more on rehabilitation.

Instead of prison, the justice handed down a two-year suspended sentence and ordered the 24-year-old to pay $6,300 in compensation to the victims he allegedly burglarised in West End in 2010.

He will also have a 12-month curfew and undergo random drug testing while he receives treatment from Dr. June Samuel and participates in a vocational programme identified by the Social Development Department.

Failure to pay the fine within six months will land him in prison for a year, and failure to comply with any of the other terms will imprison him for two years, Ms. Byer said.

For another charge of criminal damage stemming from the same incident, he was punished with a $1,000 fine that he has two months to pay, or else face six months imprisonment.

Both the Crown and the defence asked the judge for a non-custodial sentence, and Ms. Byer indulged them despite the fact that Mr. Todman also has two criminal trespass charges on his record from 2012.