Squatting leads to mischief conviction for Arthur woman
Court heard woman’s life ‘derailed’ by substance use, mental health struggles
GUELPH – Substance use and mental health struggles are derailing the life of a 34-year-old Arthur woman, court heard late last month.
Arrested in October, the woman was charged by Wellington OPP with breaking into a house being constructed on Birmingham Street West in Mount Forest.
She was also charged with possessing health and debit cards that didn't belong to her and failing to comply with court orders.
Court heard a man saw that a piece of wood meant to block the opening for a basement window on the home had been moved.
He went around the house and saw a man leaving through the front door and called police.
When searching the house, police found the woman sleeping inside, in a main-level bedroom.
The unfinished building was being used for squatting, court heard.
The woman pleaded not guilty to the break and enter charge in Guelph court on March 25, and instead pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of mischief.
The woman also pleaded guilty to the other charges stemming from the October arrest, and to a petty theft at a Mount Forest grocery store last summer. Other outstanding charges were dropped.
The woman has a learning disability, has lost custody of two children, suffers from mental health and substance use issues, and wasn't successful living in supportive housing, her defence lawyer said.
The Advertiser is not naming the woman out of concern for her well being.
She has nine convictions on her record, but Justice Lynn Robinson called the offences “relatively minor.”
"Something completely derailed you," the judge said to the woman, noting her run-ins with the law were relatively recent.
“You’ve got some serious decision making to do about what you’re going to do going forward,” the judge said, adding, “It actually just makes me quite sad.”
“It’s clear to me that you have potential ... You need to lean on the people that are offering to help you."
The woman, having spent 108 days behind bars – treated by the court as 162 days served – was placed on a year of probation, ordered to get counselling and ordered to stay away from specific addresses in Wellington North.
