Judge urges Hay River man to change his ways for the sake of his daughter
A Yellowknife judge urged a man she was sentencing this week to turn his life around for the sake of his six-year-old daughter.
"She needs a father, not someone who is going to be in and out of jail as she grows up," said Justice Shannon Smallwood as she sentenced Michael Robert Taylor to three years in jail on Thursday.
It will be a tall order for the 28-year-old. As Smallwood noted, "there are no significant gaps in his [criminal] record."
A year and a half ago, police found five handguns in a car Taylor was travelling in. The guns had been stolen from a Yellowknife home earlier that day. All were in unlocked cases. One, a 45-calibre semi-automatic pistol, had ammunition in the case with it.
Since being charged, Taylor breached his bail conditions twice and has been convicted of assaulting another inmate at the North Slave Correctional Complex. Those are the last three of 20 criminal convictions on Taylor's record, including assault causing bodily harm, drug trafficking and theft.
Difficult childhood
According to his lawyer, Tracy Bock, Taylor had a more advantageous youth than many who appear in court. He was raised in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Though non-Indigenous, his father, a Northwestel worker, embraced a traditional lifestyle, taking Taylor out on the land dog mushing, hunting and fishing.
Bock said Taylor is "struggling with personal trauma."
He was sexually abused by a babysitter when he was 10 or 11 years old, according to Bock. His younger brother died in a traffic accident, triggering him to abuse alcohol and drugs.
Bock said during his time in jail, Taylor has been taking counselling, attending narcotics anonymous and taking a program to address his tendency toward violence.
"He's ready to move on to live his life in a more positive direction," Bock told the judge.
'I can't go back and change the past'
Bock said one of Taylor's biggest regrets is that the last time his mother, a former school principal, saw him, he was in jail. During that visit, Taylor's mother started suffering dizzy spells. She was later medevaced to Edmonton and underwent surgery for a brain tumour, but did not survive.
Taylor, dressed in a suit jacket with close cropped blond hair and a top knot, had the last word at his sentencing hearing.
"I can't go back and change the past between me and my mum, but I just want to be there for my daughter as much as I can," he said.
With the customary 1.5 days credit for the 308 days he's already served, Taylor has 21 months left on his sentence. The judge recommended he serve his time in a correctional facility in Hay River or Fort Smith to be closer to family.
