A woman trapped in the system
LONDON, ONT. • When Crystal Young got out of jail and couldn’t reach her boyfriend by phone, she went to his home.
There, she discovered he was dead.
Police were called to investigate and charged Young with breaching the conditions of her probation. Her crime? Being at his place when she was banned. Even though he was dead.
That arrest, just two days after her release from two months behind bars, led to another two months in custody, a suicide attempt by swallowing razor blades and, now, a court scrambling to find help for a vulnerable, 33-year-old London woman with mental illness and addiction issues.
“We just don’t have the resources for these vulnerable and fragile people,” defence lawyer Marcia Hilliard said.
Young’s backstory is a tragic reminder of the gaping holes in mental health care and how wide the cracks are when the letter of the law collides with the needs of the vulnerable.
As part of the suspended sentence she was dealt in a London court Thursday, Young was assured a threeday emergency mental health bed, along with access to counsellors for addictions, grief and housing.
But the case left a bad taste for everyone with good intentions to help Young.
The diminutive woman, wearing large bandage on her neck, clasped her hands together in happiness when she was told Thursday she’d be set free.
Young comes from a troubled childhood and, along with mental health issues, battles addictions.
Her recent troubles began June 10 after a witness saw her hit her boyfriend in the head. She was charged with assault and released on conditions. She was back in police custody July 6, after she was seen outside her home telling people to “watch the fireworks” after setting fire to a piece of cardboard in her unit.
She told arresting officers she’d started the fire “to stop the voices.”
Young was referred to the therapeutic court, her supportive boyfriend at every one of her appearances.
She was found unfit to stand trial and ordered to have a 30-day psychiatric assessment to stabilize her. After treatment, she was found fit on Aug. 4 and released on bail after pleading guilty to arson.
On Oct. 7, she pleaded guilty to assault and breaches of release conditions. For the first time, to everyone’s surprise including the judge, her boyfriend wasn’t there. She was given a suspended sentence, with a condition not to communicate with him or go to his address unless she had “written, revocable consent” — meaning the boyfriend gave a letter to her probation officer.
On Oct. 9, she went to his home and found him dead. And then she was arrested again.