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A Sarnia judge said drugs like crystal meth do terrible things, even to healthy people with no prior mental health issues.
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But when people like John Keohan, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia about a decade ago, use them?
“It is like a spark to gasoline,” Justice Mark Poland said.
“I couldn’t agree more, your honour,” Keohan responded from the Sarnia courtroom’s prisoner’s box.
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That exchange came as Keohan, 28, recently was being sentenced to nearly two years in jail for a series of crimes including what Sarnia police called a violent home invasion on Exmouth Street earlier this year.
Police said at the time a 46-year-old man was punched, kicked, kneed and hit over the head with a TV during the invasion in an apartment building on April 10 around 3:15 a.m. The intruder jumped onto the balcony and smashed a glass door to get in.
He fled, apparently empty-handed, after being confronted by the resident, who suffered a large head laceration and cuts and scrapes to his hands and knees. He was treated at hospital, police said.
After issuing a description of the suspect and surveillance video of the incident, police received multiple tips and were able to identify the accused as Keohan. He was arrested and charged with breaking and entering with intent, mischief worth less than $5,000, assault causing bodily harm, and assault with a weapon.
Keohan, who never got bail, pleaded guilty in August to breaking and entering and committing assault, along with charges from other incidents, and his sentencing was adjourned to get a pre-sentence report. The first-time offender recently got more than 20 months in jail.
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During the sentencing hearing, the court heard Keohan’s mental health had been deteriorating during a six-month span when he picked up several charges.
Drug use played a factor.
“Things just spiralled right out of control,” defence lawyer Joseph Stoesser said.
He’d also been battling homelessness for a while and the incident on Exmouth Street was at the home of a staffer from a local shelter that he knew from staying there. Stoesser said his client went there to confront him while his thought process was delirious and disordered.
The court heard Keohan also threatened to blow up the local Canadian Mental Health Association building, although he had no plans to follow through, and beat up a family member.
Poland called it a concerning series of events.
“I’m terribly sorry for what I did,” Keohan said.
The judge told him he’s not a bad person, but bad things happen when he mixes drugs with his mental illness. At the request of both Stoesser and assistant Crown attorney Amir Hage, Poland recommended he serve his sentence at St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre in Brockville.
After he’s released he’ll be on probation for two years and is banned from using knives unless he’s eating or needs them for work.
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