The man who took a Hamilton city bus on a joy ride — with passengers still on board — chose to serve more time in jail so he could qualify for a program to support his mental health.

Back in November, police said, about the 36-year-old’s driving abilities, he “did a great job.”

The man drove for about 15 minutes, taking the stolen bus from the downtown bus terminal where the real driver left it parked, to West 5th Street, where police said they stopped and arrested him.

“He even went as far as to deny someone looking to board with an expired bus pass,” police said in a news release at the time. They said passengers noticed something was wrong when he went off route.

WATCH | Police said man made stops to let passengers on and off:

On April 20, Ontario Court Justice George Gage sentenced the man, who had pleaded guilty to stealing the bus.

CBC Hamilton listened to a court recording of the proceedings. 

The bus theft was serious, Crown lawyer Claire Sweeney said. “No doubt it would have been concerning to be on a bus, realize you aren’t going where you think you’re going and then to find out that the person driving the bus … was prohibited from driving.”

The court heard the man used crystal meth the day he stole the bus.

Report noted bus thief likely to reoffend without treatment

Sweeney said the man’s upbringing included abuse and trauma and referenced a psychological report on the man from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. 

She also said the man was found to be an “unreliable historian,” who shared different stories of what happened before he stole the bus and why he did it.

Testing showed it was likely he faked psychiatric symptoms, she said, and a report noted the man was at high risk of reoffending.

His criminal record, she said, included five convictions for driving while prohibited and multiple vehicle thefts, including an earlier attempt to steal a bus, robbery and assault with a weapon. 

The report recommended he spend time in a structured environment like a jail and receive mandated treatment. 

Man agreed to longer sentence than Crown asked for

Gage said the report suggested programming at St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre in Brockville, Ont. — a facility he described as “enlightened.”

However, Gage said, the bus thief would need to be sentenced to a minimum of nine months to go there. That was longer than sentence the crown asked for, once the five months the man had already served were deducted.

Peter Boushy, the man’s lawyer, said his client would be “more than happy” to serve a longer sentence to go there “because he knows he needs help.”

He described the 36-year-old as “gentle and kind-hearted,” despite his criminal record. He said he cared for his mother until she died in 2018, adding that he likely used drugs to cope with his grief.

His client had spent a lot of time living in shelters and had “mental health issues,” and “cognitive issues,” Boushy said, but he wanted to get back to work. 

After the Crown and defence agreed, Gage said he would sentence the man to nine months plus time served and make a strong recommendation for St. Lawrence to admit him. The judge also said the man will face three years of probation upon release, and be banned from driving for two years.

“Society has a compelling interest in making sure you don’t repeat these behaviours,” the judge told the bus thief. Even though police said he was driving well, “it could have easily been otherwise given you had ingested these substances earlier in the day and we know that that doesn’t make you a better driver.”

“Thank you, sir,” the man responded.

On Wednesday, Boushy told CBC Hamilton the man had begun serving his sentence at the Brockville facility.