Jails not place for mentally ill, judge says

A homeless man went from a hospital bed to a jail cell Friday, pleading guilty to setting a fire at a Niagara Falls bakery after taking a loaf of bread from a garbage can.

David Vallee’s story was one of two cases heard in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines that involved individuals in need of mental-health treatment being sentenced to time behind bars.

The 71-year-old was originally charged with arson, in connection with the April 28 fire at La Farina Bakery on Lundy’s Lane.

He pleaded guilty to charge of mischief under $5,000 during a teleconference from his room at the St. Catharines hospital.

Court heard the man suffers from mental-health issues and that his physician had cleared him for release from the hospital.

Vallee was sentenced to 51 days in jail and Judge Joseph De Filippis instructed him to attend at the courthouse that afternoon to be taken into custody, then be transferred to the Niagara Detention Centre.

Defence counsel Patrick Little said his client, who has a substantial criminal record, “regrettably has outstayed his welcome at several shelters and that usually leads him to finding himself in trouble.”

In an unrelated case, a 40year-old man who suffers from mental-health issues was sentenced to 15 days in jail, on top of the time he had spent in pretrial custody, in connection with a brutal assault in Thorold.

“One of the difficulties of sentencing people with mentalhealth problems is that jails are not the place for people with mental-health problems,” said Judge Cameron Watson.

Defence lawyer John Bothwell told the judge Matthew Johnson’s family has made repeated attempts to get him help for his mental-health issues.

When his client is admitted to hospital, he’s typically released after a few days without a plan for follow-up care, he said.

Johnson was charged with assault with a weapon in September after a woman was struck in the face with a tree branch after letting her dog out into her backyard.

The woman now lives in fear of being alone in her house and yard, the judge said, and is apprehensive about allowing her son and her dog to play outside without supervision.