By Keith Lacey
A veteran judge told a teenager Friday his crimes were very serious, but he?d done enough time behind bars with hardened criminals, and he was giving him a chance to conquer his alcohol problems and turn his life around.
Court heard Christopher Taylor, 18, got into trouble last Aug. 2 at the Sudbury bus station.
Taylor had already broken a court order not to leave Sudbury when he took off for Sault Ste. Marie before this incident.
On Aug. 2, his girlfriend had arrived in Sudbury on a bus from Sault Ste. Marie, when Taylor showed up at the bus station intoxicated.
His girlfriend didn?t want anything to do with him when he was drinking, so she reboarded the bus, and Taylor followed. The bus driver tried to intervene, and Taylor punched him once in the face.
When a passenger intervened and tried to calm Taylor down, the teenager threatened to kill him saying he?d find out where he lived and place a bullet between his eyes.
Taylor was released on bail. He did report to a substance abuse program, but signed himself out after only two days. He then failed to make his next court appearance, both of which breached his bail conditions.
Taylor was arrested in early March and has spent the past 45 days in custody.
Defence counsel Lynn Laporte said Taylor, despite his young years, has had a serious drinking problem, and this is the main reason he got into so much trouble over the past several months.
His father has a job lined up for him when he?s released, he wants to try and address his drinking problem and turn his life around, she said.
Assistant Crown attorney Guy Roy said hitting a bus driver and then threatening civilians with death are serious charges.
The judge imposed a six-month conditional sentence in which Taylor is to gain employment with his father, live with his sister and be under a daily curfew for two months.
