Sober and healthy, Troy Main.

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The mother of a Vernon man released into the community earlier this week because he was too out of it to understand what was going on in court says her son's cognitive difficulties combined with his drug use have meant he hasn't been able to act in his own best interests throughout the court process.

Claire, not her real name, says her son, 21-year-old Troy Main, doesn't grasp the concept that Crown prosecutors are asking for six to seven years of jail time for his part in a violent robbery.

"What it boils down to is my son's inability to understand what is going on and what he turned down and what is coming," Claire told iNFOnews.ca.

Main has cognitive difficulties and a low intellectual capacity, although to what level is not really known.

Claire says her son may have the functioning of a 13- or 14-year-old but there is as yet no clear diagnosis.

"He's not functioning at his age and that they're quite positive of," Claire said.

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

On Oct. 19 Troy Main sat in the dock of the Vernon Supreme Court while lawyers argued about how much jail time he should receive.

The Crown asked for a lengthy sentence of six to seven years behind bars.

However, Main's behaviour while in the dock concerned Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton so much the court was adjourned.

Main clearly wasn't with it, and appeared to be highly intoxicated on drugs.

Ultimately, after legal discussions regarding what to do, and the realization the court couldn't easily prove Main was high and detain him, he was released back onto the streets of Vernon, where he is currently homeless.

Main's mother, who was sitting in the courthouse, was horrified.

"To do something that day that was an opportunity, and now he's set up to fail again," Claire said. "(In custody) at least I knew he'd be safe, off the street, not able to use... it's not making it better by sending him back to the streets."

Instead, Main will remain on the streets of Vernon until his sentence hearing is resumed in early January.

The justice put a condition on his bail that he must be sober for 72 hours before his next court appearance.

"It's very unrealistic," Claire said. "If he was monitored and properly detoxed and medically helped, that's different."

None of that will be available while Main sleeps rough on the streets.

Main was in court for his part in a violent robbery that took place in October 2020.

Main, along with an unidentified suspect who was never caught, wore masks and carried a hammer and a taser baton to the motel room where Gordon Harmon lived.

They broke in and robbed Harmon of drugs and assaulted him. The unidentified man was far more violent in the robbery.

Main and Harmon knew each other and Harmon is currently awaiting trial for drug trafficking charges and a domestic abuse case.

Main was arrested and charged but hasn't been able to advocate for himself during the court process.

Claire says her son was offered a plea deal in the form of a peace bond. Main would have to agree not to go near Harmon and provided he complied, wouldn't receive a criminal record.

However, Main refused.

"He's not cognitively able to process what is going on, whether he is on drugs or not," she said. "I don't think he's capable of making those decisions on his own... I don't think it registered in his mind."

Main's next best move would have been to plead guilty, which would likely have resulted in a far lesser sentence.

Instead, the case went to trial and he was found guilty.

He's now looking at considerable jail time.

"You're basically sending a young person (with a) teenager's mind into a federal prison, with seasoned criminals, it's not going to bode well," Claire said.

Even after the recent court appearance, Claire said her son still doesn't understand the full ramifications of what happened and didn't understand that he was supposed to be going to prison.

He asked her for snacks from Tim Horton's when they left the courthouse and said he was going back downtown. There was no mention that he had just been given a little reprieve before spending most of his twenties in jail.

Put simply, the 21-year-old, whether because of his drug abuse or cognitive limitations, can't act in his own best interests.

But it wasn't always like this.

Through tears, Claire says he was once sweet and innocent.

"He's just my little boy."

He liked the outdoors and loved anything with a motor.

She says he slipped through the cracks at school but managed to go back to school when he was 18 or 19 with an eye to graduating.

"He was struggling, struggling, he was trying so hard but he was not getting it," she said.

That's when it came to light he had serious cognitive difficulties.

"He sees things differently, social queues all these things, not just one little thing, it's many things," Claire said.

She's also sure he had underlying mental health issues but as yet it's undiagnosed.

She's sure it was her son's mental health issues and cognitive capacity that led to his drug use.

Prior to the sentencing hearing, the court had set up an appointment with a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist's report would have had an influence, possibly significantly, on how the judge decided on a sentence.

However, Main didn't turn up to the appointment.

Main only turned up to court because Claire went and found him on the streets and brought him there.

Otherwise, he would never remember, she said.

Claire says she is not really sure when Main started taking hard drugs.

The court had heard how he took psychedelic drugs as a teenager and moved on to heroin and fentanyl.

She says when he's not on drugs he's a completely different person.

But while he has been in rehab once before, once out he slipped back into his addiction.

Claire just wants him to get the help he really needs.

"He's a lost boy... I just want him to be found," she said.

Troy Main is scheduled to be back in court in early January 2023 to find out how much jail time he will receive.

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