Standing inside the prisoner box with pages of handwritten notes, convicted serial rapist Andrew Aurie Jefferson, 29, apologized to his victim, the courts and society for being a "nuisance," vowing he is a better man now.
"I apologize for this crime. It was stupid and reckless. I am on the right path now and I'm not the same person I was two years ago," he told the provincial judge at his sentencing hearing in Surrey on Wednesday.
Crown prosecutor Crichton Pike is asking for four to five years in jail plus long term offender status for Jefferson, who admitted to attacking a woman in a Langley City parking lot last June, putting a screwdriver to her stomach and then taking her car. He denies it was a knife. A witness phoned 911 and Jefferson was arrested without incident a few minutes later. He has been in jail ever since.
Crown read from the victim's impact statement, saying the attack has left her anxious and untrusting, unable to concentrate at work. The cut has also left a small scar on her stomach.
Crown is asking the court to deem him a long term offender because he is a risk to the community. Chrichton is asking for the maximum 10 years of strict supervision in the community.
His defence lawyer Eric Warren is asking Jefferson be let out of jail with a sentence of time served, followed by three years probation.
To that end, he wants the courts to give Jefferson 1.5 days credit for every day he has been in jail since his arrest June 8, 2013, equalling 22 months.
Warren said while Jefferson's past sex crimes were heinous, the charge in front of the courts here is for robbery and deserves a provincial sentence.
In 2006, Jefferson was dubbed the Falconridge rapist for terrorizing that Calgary neighbourhood and violently raping three women at knifepoint.
At the time he was 22. At his sentencing in Calgary, he apologized to his victims, promising to do better when he got out.
He served six years in jail for those crimes. In jail, he incurred many violations, fighting with correction officers and having issues with other inmates. He refused any sex offender treatment and didn't take part in any violent prevention or drug abuse programs.
He chose to live in Surrey following his release from prison, much to the outrage of the mayor. A warning went out about Jefferson who was deemed "an untreated sex offender."
He was aggressive and often angry with his probation officer and refused any counselling or treatment she offered, the courts heard. He missed appointments set up for him with pyschiatrists. As part of his release conditions, he had to disclose his criminal history to women he was going to be intimate with.
This was the main contention for Jefferson.
Living in several different rooming houses where tenants were also drug dealers, Jefferson said he was using cocaine daily.
In April, a jury found him not guilty of sexually assaulting and choking a teen he met on the dating site Plenty of Fish.
He was on and off again with an 18-year-old woman who was pregnant with someone else's child.
He admits that he was highly promiscuous and in a downward spiral leading up to the night of June 8, 2013, when he attacked a young woman in a Langley City parking lot, putting her in a bear hug, pushing a screw driver into her stomach and then taking her car.
"I had been reflecting on my year out of jail that night. I was constantly being laid off, juggling places to to live and not being able to be in relationships with woman because of this crime in my past. I was blaming and hating on probation. My mind frame was I might as well go back to jail," he said on Wednesday.
His lawyer said the carjacking was almost a cry for help.
Jefferson told the judge that he is taking his anti-depressents and anti-psychotic drugs while in prison and it's helping to regulate his emotions. He admits he is quick to anger.
He is also trying hard to be more respectful to correction staff. After refusing any help or treatment for more than six years, he was quick to point out on Tuesday that he has completed the violence prevention program and some online lifeskill training. That was completed a month ago.
He has been in contact with Vision Quest Society and hopes to live in their recovery house for at least 90 days upon release, where he promises to take any programs they offer if the judge chooses to let him out.
His lawyer said the judge can and should consider his disadvantaged background, growing up in foster care, in sentencing his client.
He believes his client's likelihood of re-offending is low this time around.
"He has grown since in custody. We do know people can change," Warren said.
A judge will decide his fate on Oct. 15.