FILE PHOTO.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

There's no obvious reason why a Vernon thief, with a lengthy criminal record, would turn up to court with a steak knife and a large pair of scissors in his pocket.

However, having had them confiscated on entering the courthouse, 41-year-old Adam William Nichols collected the scissors and steak knife as he walked out on his way to spend four months under house arrest for breaking into someone's yard and stealing a kid's wagon.

The court sheriff, who confiscated the steak knife and scissors from Nichols, had no choice but to hand them back when Nichols wasn't given any weapons prohibitions with his sentence.

It's hard to fathom a rational reason why Nichols would need to be walking around the streets of Vernon carrying a steak knife and large pair of scissors or why, knowing all weapons are prohibited for the courthouse, he'd turned up to court carrying them in the first place.

Nichols, whose criminal record is six pages long, appeared at the Vernon courthouse, Feb. 12, having been arrested for theft.

The court heard how in March last year, Nichols had broken into the yard of a house on 25 Avenue and attempted to steal a kid's red wagon. The homeowner confronted him and he'd fled.

However, he'd returned later that day, damaged the fence when breaking in, and stole the wagon and a pair of jeans.

The red wagon had great sentimental value as it was the last gift the child had received from her mother before her mom passed away.

Nichols was identified from CCTV and later arrested.

The red wagon was retrieved but not in useable condition.

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Nichols pleaded guilty to the theft and told the court he was incredibly remorseful and had tears in his eyes.

He said he'd been in a car crash in 2005 that left him in a coma for nine days. After that, his life changed.

Nichols had no criminal record before the crash, but that changed the year after the accident. Since then, he'd spent time in jail having been convicted more than a dozen times for theft and robbery along with stealing a vehicle, mischief, resisting arrest and breaching his probation on many occasions.

For stealing the red wagon the Crown wanted a few months in jail while the defence argued for a period of house arrest.

The court heard how he suffered from substance abuse and had lived for the last five years in supportive housing and was on opioid treatment. Staff at the supportive housing complex said he was respectful and friendly.

Judge Leven said he was hesitant to give Nichols a sentence of house arrest, but he had recently spent 16 months on probation with no breaches.

"This seems to indicate that something has changed," the judge said.

The judge said Nichols was "appropriately remorseful" and a sentence of house arrest was considered a jail sentence.

Ultimately, Nicols was sentenced to four months of house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation.

As he prepared to leave the courthouse he collected his steak knife and scissors from the sheriff and headed out of the door.

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