Photo: KTW File Photo

A man who was high on fentanyl and armed with a gun when he crashed a stolen car into the ditch in Rayleigh could spend three years in prison.

Trevor James Richardson was in Kamloops provincial court Wednesday pleading guilty to one count each of break and enter and possession of an unloaded prohibited firearm with readily accessible ammunition.

Court heard the first offence happened on Sept. 19, 2023. Police were called to a remote cabin in Louis Creek for a report of a burglary, and two male suspects fled after spotting the approaching officers.

“They then jumped into their vehicle and took off down the mountain at a high rate of speed, including smashing through a closed wooden gate,” Crown prosecutor Ben Martin said in court.

The vehicle hit an RCMP spike belt. It was found abandoned a short distance away.

Police dogs tracked the suspects down the mountain and Richardson was taken into custody. Multiple items belonging to the cabin’s owner were found in his vehicle.

Crashed stolen car on fentanyl

On Jan. 6, 2024, a vehicle travelling southbound on the Yellowhead Highway in Rayleigh was seen speeding at around 140 km/h. The driver lost control and ended up in the ditch on the northbound side of the road.

Richardson exited from the driver’s seat, grabbed a bag and walked to a nearby residence, where he asked for a phone to call his dad. When he wasn’t able to contact his father, he walked to a nearby liquor store, where an employee directed him to the pub next door.

“He then went into the pub, he asked for a tab and he sat down and ordered an omelette and waited,” Martin said.

First responders arrived at the scene of the crashed vehicle, identified an abandoned phone as Richardson’s and determined the vehicle had been stolen 10 days earlier.

Police dogs found Richardson at the pub and Mounties arrested him. He said he was high on fentanyl and had fallen asleep at the time of the crash.

A search of two bags in Richardson’s possession found a stolen nine-millimetre handgun, ammunition including shotgun shells and trace amounts of cocaine. Two nine-millimetre rounds were also found in his pocket.

Richardson said he put the gun in a bag before he fled the scene of the crash, but had no prior knowledge of the firearm being in the vehicle. He said it was left by a friend.

“There's no indication of who that friend is, when they were in the vehicle, how long they were in the vehicle, or how he knew it was his friend’s gun, since he was the only one in the vehicle crash," Martin said.

"And it doesn't explain how ammunition ended up in his front pocket."

Death in the family a factor

Richardson has previous convictions for break and enter, impaired driving, possession of stolen property and escaping lawful custody, among others.

“Mr. Richardson’s mother passed away in August 2023 and then a few months later his girlfriend passed away in December, and it appears that those deaths led to his recent spiral,” Martin said.

He hasn’t had any breaches of his bail conditions but has made “minor violations.” According to a pre-sentence report, he continued choosing “pro-criminal peers” after previous convictions and will need to make considerable life changes if he wants to live a “crack-free life.”

Defence lawyer Cam Johnson argued for a more lenient sentence, saying Richardson has previously performed “reasonably well” under community supervision and the handgun was not loaded when he took it from the vehicle.

He argued a 2021 traumatic brain injury, Richardson's history of substance abuse and the death of his mother and long-term girlfriend should all be considered mitigating factors.

“Mr. Richardson’s No. 1 familial support passed from cancer, and at that point in time, Mr. Richardson started using," Johnson said.

"Unable to cope with the loss on the 19th of September, six weeks later, that's the break in. That's him going back to his less than pro social support, getting involved in behaviour all while in the grips of addiction.”

'I shouldn't have been there'

Martin is seeking a 30-month jail sentence for the gun charge and six additional months for the break and enter, plus a $1,000 restitution order to go to the cabin’s owner.

Johnson suggested a two-year sentence — 18 months for the gun charge and four months for the burglary.

Whatever sentence gets handed down will automatically be shortened by 326 days once time served is factored in.

“I don't even know how to explain what I did, because I don't really, necessarily fully remember,” Richardson told the court.

“I just wish it never happened. I shouldn't have been there, I shouldn't have been in that car, and none of this would have happened.”

Richardson is due back in court on May 12 to set a date for his sentencing.