A special sitting at Magistrates’ Court to celebrate its addiction and mental health courts came with an award for paralysed former probation officer Russ Ford.

The Royal Gazette attended the first private ceremony of thanksgiving for the treatment courts, aimed at helping troubled people who have fallen afoul of the law to restore their lives.

The appearance of Mr Ford, known for his HIV activism but also a champion over decades for addicts and those reckoning with mental illness, was an emotional occasion for the event, led by Maxanne Anderson, the senior magistrate.

Mr Ford, a former senior prison nursing officer, took the community partnership award named for his mother, Kathleen Ford.

He founded Agape House, Bermuda’s only hospice, but also helped generations of prison inmates to battle through their private struggles.

Attending in a wheelchair and unable to move from the chest down after a fall in February, Mr Ford said it marked “my first official outing in public”.

“I can tell you right now, I know what rehabilitation is all about,” Mr Ford told the ceremony, giving thanks for “every single one of those days” as he fought through gruelling medical treatment overseas.

He added: “Reach out to somebody every single day. If it’s something you’re not used to doing, make it a practice. Eventually it will become a habit.

“For those of you who remain here when I am gone, take my message with you.”

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe, formerly one of the first drug court prosecutors, said little was known in the wider community of the transformations achieved in the special courts.

Mr Wolffe told the clients: “You help us as well.

“You show us on a daily basis what it means to redeem yourselves. You show us the true spirit of redemption.

“I have been inspired by every single drug court client, DUI client and mental health client, because you guys have shown us that it is possible to change your lives.”

Ms Anderson said the courts took on “the underlying problems that contribute to criminal behaviour”, with staff who went “well beyond the call of duty” to see clients graduate with their lives under control.

She also thanked the helping agencies and donors whose support kept the treatment courts running.

Thanksgiving statements from clients ranged from poetry to brief words of gratitude.

Many were familiar faces to the courts.

One woman who had gone through the DUI court said she had marked six months of sobriety last week, adding: “I am grateful for be sober enough to dictate the outcome of my life.”

A man thanked court staff for their encouragement that had seen him through 21 months of recovery.

“This is the first time in my life that I have been on this side,” he told the court.

A staff member rose to say he was “thankful for the privilege to be able to serve”.

Ms Anderson closed the ceremony, saying: “We as a community must remain focused, and pledge our best efforts to each and every client in our treatment court.”

She added: “The work of the treatment courts positively changes lives in our island home. We see a stronger and safer community.”