A wheelchair stops a crime spree in it's tracks

Injured inmate serving life in a wheelchair

Injury suffered in sheriff's van leaves Esquimalt man dependent on parents

Richard Watts, Times Colonist

Published: Monday, January 14, 2008

A Victoria man's three-year sentence for break and enter has turned into a life sentence for his entire family after he emerged from prison handicapped and wheelchair-bound.

Allan Taylor now speaks and moves his limbs as though he had a condition such as cerebral palsy. At 30 years old he has now moved into his parents' Esquimalt home and is almost completely dependent on his mother Lois.

"It's now a life sentence for all of us. That's what we are looking at," father Pat, 53, a construction supervisor, said earlier this month in an interview.

Allan Taylor, pictured with parents Lois and Pat in background, is in a wheelchair after suffering a head injury while being transported to prison in a sheriff van.View Larger Image View Larger Image

Allan Taylor, pictured with parents Lois and Pat in background, is in a wheelchair after suffering a head injury while being transported to prison in a sheriff van.

Back in December 2006, Taylor was in the cage in the back of a sheriff's van on his way to federal prison when the driver slammed on the brakes. Handcuffed, shackled and without a seatbelt, Taylor flew forward, hit his head and says he was knocked unconscious momentarily.

No help was offered and by the following day, Lois could hardly understand him on the phone. "I said to him 'You sound like just like my parents did after they both had strokes.'"

Within days he couldn't walk, could barely feed himself and was in the prison health unit. Released on parole 11 months later, (the parole board found he was no longer a risk to society) he is now confined to a wheelchair.

Corrections Canada spokesman Dennis Finlay said privacy rights prohibit him from discussing Taylor's condition. But in general, any inmate exhibiting medical distress would receive help.

Federal prison medical records, obtained by the Taylor family, show his condition was attributed to heroin use, something the family disputes.

The provincial Attorney General's Ministry, whose duties include transport of some inmates, says it has no record of any complaint from Taylor. But if a complaint had been made it would have been investigated.

Also, the B .C. Sheriff's Service is exempted from using seatbelts while transporting inmates in custody. This is to prevent them injuring themselves or others during transport.

Don McKay, the Victoria lawyer who has long represented Taylor, said he is preparing a civil lawsuit as well as an appeal over the conviction.

Taylor was sentenced in November 2006, after being convicted in absentia. He failed to show up for his trial because he said he had lost track of the date.

But McKay said he actually had a good case. Evidence exists to show Taylor only happened by the break-in while it was in progress. But the Crown depicted it as a home invasion, which explains the steep sentence.

McKay conceded Allan Taylor is a long-time heroin user, with the kind of criminal record that typically accompanies addiction. Taylor mostly supported his habit through low-level drug dealing and property crime.

On the other hand, he always found Taylor to be bright and respectful and never violent. And he certainly doesn't deserve his present disabled condition.

"Certainly it's a much more harsh sentence than could ever have been envisaged by the court," said McKay.

And Pat Taylor noted if the appeal is successful and the conviction is ruled as wrong, that adds enormous insult to the injury received serving the resulting sentence.