KITCHENER -- The mother of a man who was shot and wounded by Waterloo Regional Police took the stand Wednesday at her son’s trial.

Joshua Hannaford, 31, is accused of possession of stolen guns and a stolen van, and running from police.

Hannaford was shot in the leg by a Waterloo Regional Police officer during the 2018 pursuit.

Hannaford’s mother, Patricia Hannaford, told court she spoke with her son on the phone earlier that day, about an hour or two before he was shot.

 Hannaford had previously testified that he stole the van and drove it to Cambridge, then calling his mother.

“He told me that he was on his way to Cambridge to speak with his partner Shauna. They had been arguing about money and he was trying to work it out with her,” said Patricia Hannaford.

She says she became upset when she found out he was driving a stolen van, telling him to park the van and walk away.

His mother says an hour later she received a voicemail from Joshua.

“It opened to the sound of wind and rustling of leaves and breathing. After thirty to forty seconds I hear Josh say ‘I just wanna go home,’ and then the sounds continued again for another 10 to 20 seconds and then I heard a sharp intake of breath noise, and then the phone went dead,” said Patricia Hannaford.

His mother testified that the message was somehow deleted from her phone three to four months after the incident. She says she contacted her service provider who says they were unable to retrieve it.

When asked by the crown why Hannaford’s mother didn’t tell investigators right away about the voice message she said “I felt that if it was important, his lawyer would have talked to me about it.”

His mother admitted she told investigators about the voice message nearly a year after the incident and after it was deleted.

Closing arguments are set for Thursday.

On top of this trial, Hannaford has put forward an application to stay the charges because of excessive use of police force.

A ruling on that is expected at the end of this judge-alone trial around the same time, or shortly after he give his verdict.