BY KEITH LACEY
A Â?lost soulÂ? whose long record of petty crimes is directly related to her hard drug addiction was spared a jail sentence Wednesday.
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Instead of keeping her behind bars, Justice Guy Mahaffy sentenced Robin Twain, 28, to undergo drug treatment and report back to the courts in three months.
Twain spent two weeks in custody after being arrested Feb. 28 and found to be in possession of two syringes full of cocaine.
Twain did have the presence of mind to be carrying the drugs concealed inside a plastic pop bottles so no one would accidentally get stuck by a needle, court heard.
Twain also pleaded guilty to writing a bad cheque, failing to appear in court on previous matters and stealing two pairs of pants and two tops from a local retail outlet.
Defence counsel Robert Beckett told the court Twain is the youngest in a family of 13 children and grew up in a household where many bad things took place on a regular occasion.
She was removed from the family home at a young age and ended up living in as many as 20 group homes and never enjoyed stability as a young person, he said.
She eventually became Â?a street personÂ? and she got more and more involved in drugs and four years ago started using harder drugs like cocaine.
While sheÂ?s been fortunate enough to avoid the serious health problems often association with abusing hard drugs, Twain has also been unable to stop using despite some attempts to seek treatment, said Beckett.
Elizabeth Fry has offered to provide a bed at a transitional house treatment centre and his client is willing to try an extended counselling program, said Beckett.
Despite all her problems, Twain is an intelligent woman who realizes itÂ?s time to try and kick her lifestyle and hard drug habit, he said.
Federal Crown prosecutor said after hearing about TwainÂ?s background, it would not serve any purpose to send her back to jail and he recommended long-term rehabilitation as well.
Mahaffy said Â?itÂ?s obvious her addiction caused her to commit crimesÂ?and the best option is treatmentÂ? and not jail.
Probation hasnÂ?t worked in the past and it was his opinion a long period of treatment is the best option.
He warned Twain that if she didnÂ?t follow through with treatment and gets in trouble again, the courts may not have any recourse but to impose a jail sentence.
