FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca
December 24, 2022 - 3:29 PM
Amos James Atkins was in custody for months after he left a court-appointed treatment facility this summer near Logan Lake.
He was out on bail, but he was expected to stay at Vision Quest when he was admitted on July 28 as part of his "strict" conditions, Crown prosecutor Evan Goulet said.
Within days, he left the facility and police found him walking on Highway 97C near Logan Lake.
Atkins, born in 1990, pleaded guilty for breaching his conditions on Dec. 22, but he claimed facility staff drove him to the highway.
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He left the facility on Aug. 2, as the staff were grappling with a COVID outbreak, his lawyer James Pennington said.
"He was told he should confine himself to his room," he said. "To which he replied, 'If I have to sit on my ass, I might as well do it in jail.'"
Vision Quest clients go through various drug treatment programs while at the facility, but they were stopped while the COVID outbreak ran through the facility, according to Pennington.
He claims staff drove his client to the highway and called RCMP to report he was breaching his conditions.
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Pennington told the court he confirmed with Vision Quest staff they drove Atkins to the highway when he asked to leave.
Atkins pleaded guilty and received a 30-day jail sentence, but it was given as a time-served sentence since he had been in custody since Aug. 2.
He's facing several charges for break and entering and robbery, which are all alleged to have been in Penticton.
He's scheduled for two trials in Penticton in 2023.
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