Sober and healthy, Troy Main.

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A Vernon man described as "gullible" because of his intellectual disability was spared a lengthy jail sentence today but will still spend two years behind bars for his role in the violent robbery of a drug dealer.

At the Vernon courthouse Jan. 6, Crown prosecutors had asked for a sentence of seven or eight years in jail for Troy Reginald Main's part in the 2020 robbery while the defence wanted a two-year sentence citing his low cognitive abilities and lesser role in the offence.

"I have no difficulty saying Mr. Main's circumstances here represent a real challenge in sentencing," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton told the court.

The court heard how Main had intellectual functioning in the "extreme low range." A psychiatric report stated his verbal communication scored at an extremely low level for his age.

"(This) means his ability to apply knowledge in everyday life situations in an age-appropriate manner is impacted in his difficulties in reasoning, thinking, understanding and interpreting information," defence lawyer Dominique Verdurmen told the court.

Main's cognitive difficulties also led to the 22-year-old ending up in the dock of the Supreme Court in the first place.

Main's mother had previously told iNFOnews.ca her son's intellectual disability combined with his heavy drug use meant he wasn't able to act in his own best interests throughout the court process.

READ MORE: Vernon mom says son sabotaged own court process

She describes him continually falling through the cracks.

Claire, not her real name, said her son was offered a plea deal in the form of a peace bond in the early stages of the court process. He would have to agree not to go near the person he robbed and would not get a criminal record.

However, Claire said her son wasn't able to process this information and the case went to trial.

He could have then pleaded guilty and likely received a much lighter sentence.

However, he didn't and was later found guilty of break and enter and robbery.

Homeless and heavily addicted to drugs, he then sabotaged himself again by failing to show up for a psychiatric assessment, meaning the court wouldn't have the expert report which could significantly influence his sentence.

Main's crime dates back to October 2020, when he and another unidentified man broke into a motel room where Gordon Harmon lived.

He knew Harmon and, armed with a hammer and a taser baton, Main and the other man beat and robbed him of "a bag full of dope."

The unknown man was far more violent in the robbery but Main, who was 19 at the time, had hit Harmon once.

Harmon wasn't shy about discussing his involvement in the drug trade during the trial and has since been charged with drug trafficking and domestic assault.

The court heard that Main grew up in a stable family environment but his undiagnosed intellectual disabilities left him behind and increasingly frustrated.

He started smoking cannabis at 15 and moved on to magic mushrooms, LSD, and cocaine soon afterwards.

He then became addicted to methamphetamine, heroin, and eventually fentanyl. He became homeless.

Main sat in the dock of the Vernon courthouse Friday wearing a dress shirt and looking considerably healthier than at an earlier court appearance last fall.

In October 2022, Justice Bennett adjourned the court proceeding after Main had appeared highly intoxicated on drugs in the courtroom. He sat in the dock fidgeting and acting very strangely.

READ MORE: Violent Vernon man too incapacitated to be sent to prison gets released

The court couldn't easily prove Main was high and detained him so he was released back to the streets of Vernon.

The move horrified his mother who desperately wanted help for her son.

Sometime before Christmas, Claire managed to reconnect with him and he's been living with her and separately at his father's since.

He turned up to his psychiatrist's appointment and the report was finally produced.

Along with his cognitive disabilities, the psychiatrist also diagnosed Main with ADHD.

While the Crown had argued the robbery was violent and premeditated and deserved a lengthy jail sentence, the defence disagreed.

"A lengthy period of jail will not assist him in becoming a successful and productive member of society, he's in desperate need of drug dependence counselling (and) mentorship in life-building skills," Verdurmen said. "There is a risk of having such an influenceable person with very low cognitive abilities to be placed in a federal prison with hardened criminals."

Justice Betton appeared to agree.

The justice sentenced Main to three years in jail but with time already served in custody it reduces the sentence to two years less one day. This means Main will avoid being sent to a federal prison and instead be incarcerated at a provincial jail.

While the sentence is significantly better than what could have happened, it's still far removed from what could have occurred if Main had been able to advocate for himself properly.

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