When Courtland Moffett was eight years old, the vehicle he and his father were in was hit by a truck.
His father's injuries were obvious and significant, and ended John Moffett's career as an air-traffic controller.
The younger Moffett, by comparison, came away relatively unscathed – or so people thought.
In the years that followed, his parents struggled to understand changes they saw in their son's behaviour; among other things, he exhibited anxiety, and became impulsive.
But it wasn't until last spring, more than a decade after the crash, and after the then-21-year-old Peninsula man robbed a White Rock corner store – threatening to kill the clerks with a gun he never produced – that they learned just how serious his childhood injuries had been.
An MRI requested by Surrey Provincial Court officials last year, as his case progressed through the system, showed he had frontal and temporal lobe brain damage, the court heard this week. Those injuries were likely compounded by a 2009 motorcycle accident, the court heard.
Those injuries explained everything.
Collateral damage
Wednesday, during a sentencing hearing for the May 2012 robbery, prosecutor Paul Barclay and defence counsel Gordon Bowen agreed with Judge Ellen Gordon's description of Moffett's arrest that day as "a blessing in disguise, in its own perverse way."
It led to discovery of the damage, and, perhaps more importantly, to the family finally understanding what was happening, why it was happening and what they and Moffett could do to mitigate and control the effects.
"Everyone assumed the young eight-year-old boy had suffered less severe injuries," the judge said as she imposed a sentence that included 65 days credit for time served and three years probation.
"No one attributed (his behaviour over the years) to the accident."
Moffett was arrested shortly after 1 p.m. on May 1, after he walked into the Red Rooster corner store in the 1400-block of Stayte Road, told the clerks he had a gun, demanded cash from the till and then tried to steal the till itself.
It was "a pretty foolish robbery," Gordon said.
The clerks – two sisters, one of them eight months pregnant – weren't convinced Moffett was armed and fought back, whacking him on the shoulder with a golf club. He fled, followed by the clerks' mother, who called police as she ran.
Officers caught up with Moffett at a nearby park, where he was trying to hide behind a tree.
Barclay told the court that Moffett's behaviour upon arrest was "extremely bizarre and quite aggressive."
He repeatedly spat on the officers – which led to an assault charge that was stayed in court Wednesday – and, when asked if he wanted to talk to a lawyer, responded with, "I want to speak to your mother."
A psychiatric report notes Moffett said he had no recollection of the incident – a claim Barclay noted he normally wouldn't give much weight to. It also noted Moffett was considered a moderate risk for future violence; risk that could be reduced by abstaining from drugs and alcohol and with continued treatment for his brain injury.
Barclay named Moffett's threat to kill and the fact that one clerk was pregnant as aggravating factors in the file. His guilty plea – entered in September – and his age, brain injury and lack of criminal record are all mitigating factors, the prosecutor said.
Barclay added that while the law mandates a jail sentence for the offence, it's not required that the term actually be spent in jail. He suggested a conditional sentence of 12 to 18 months house arrest, followed by one year probation.
Bowen agreed further incarceration would not help his client.
"He's done some time in the penalty box. It gave him a great deal of time to contemplate what's going on with his life, what's going on with his brain," the defense lawyer said. "This has allowed him, fortunately, to understand what he has to do to keep himself on track."
'Bettering my life'
By all accounts, in the months since the robbery and as a result of diagnosing his brain injury, Moffett has "done better than he has in years," Bowen added.
Offered an opportunity to speak by the judge, Moffett expressed regret.
"I just want to apologize for everything I've done," he told Gordon, as his father listened from the court gallery. "I've learned a lot, and I'm on my way to bettering my life."
In imposing the three years probation, Gordon told Moffett it was "not to punish you so much as to assist you to monitor your rehabilitation."
Conditions include a curfew of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the first six months, and to complete any counselling or programs a probation officer deems appropriate. Gordon also handed Moffett a 10-year weapons prohibition and ordered him to provide a DNA sample.
She was satisfied he was on the right track.
"Given the right treatment, this young man is someone we will not see before the courts again."
