Bus driver in Quebec daycare killings unable to tell right from wrong: second expert
A second psychiatrist told a trial on Tuesday that the man accused of killing two children and injuring six others when he drove a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare was unable to distinguish right from wrong.
Dr. Sylvain Faucher testified that Pierre Ny St-Amand was experiencing psychotic symptoms on Feb. 8, 2023 and should not be held criminally responsible — meaning a mental disorder rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature of his actions or knowing they were wrong.
After Crown prosecutor Karine Dalphond read out the definition of not criminally responsible in the Laval, Que., courtroom, Faucher replied: “I believe he responds to that.”
Faucher testified Tuesday that possible untreated post-traumatic stress disorder from Ny St-Amand’s childhood as an orphan in war-torn Cambodia left him “fragile” to stressors in his life.
The psychiatrist said it’s impossible to know why Ny St-Amand acted in the way he did, but he speculated that he might have attacked the daycare during his psychosis as a way of “killing his own past.”
“We can ask whether the link exists between the significant traumas experienced by the accused during his childhood and the fact that, during an episode of illness, he aimed at individuals of a comparable age to his own when he suffered various abuse and was confronted by highly tragic situations,” Faucher told the court. “This supposes he knew he was crashing into a daycare, at some level.”
On Monday, Dr. Kim Bédard-Charette told the first day of the trial that the accused was likely experiencing psychosis at the time he drove the bus into the building. Faucher evaluated Ny St-Amand separately at the request of the Crown and reached largely the same conclusion, though he characterized the psychotic episode as “brief” rather than “unspecified,” as Bédard-Charette had.
In response to their evaluations, both the Crown and defence told the court in February that they would present the facts of Ny St-Amand’s case jointly and recommend a verdict of not criminally responsible.
According to documents filed in court, Ny St-Amand was born in Cambodia in 1972, shortly before the Khmer Rouge began a brutal rule that is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people.
Both his parents died as a result of the conflict, and he doesn’t know his real surname or birthday. He was moved to different refugee camps under the guardianship of a cousin, who also died. He was physically assaulted by the cousin’s wife, who strung him up by his feet and beat him. In 1982, he was sent to Canada by a humanitarian agency and adopted by a Quebec family.
Faucher told the court that Ny St-Amand’s past and lack of close personal relationships, even with his wife and adopted family, meant that he was poorly equipped to cope with stressors that might appear unremarkable to others. Those included a costly family trip planned to Disney World and his impending marriage to his longtime partner.
Like Bédard-Charette, Faucher said Ny St-Amand had exhibited many of the classic symptoms of psychosis, including agitation, memory loss, delirium and strange behaviour. As an example, Faucher noted that after his arrest, Ny St-Amand was found naked in his cell, walking an imaginary line on the floor.
As the testimony was given, the accused stared straight ahead, sometimes closing his eyes and appearing to briefly nod off.
Melanie Goulet, whose daughter survived after being trapped under the bus, told reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday that she felt like Ny St-Amand was being treated as a victim. “Basically, they were trying to justify his actions by his past, but we all have a past, we all have stress in our life,” she said.
Ny St-Amand, she added, is receiving more help and treatment than the victims. “He’s been in a facility with a really big team and everything for his recovery,” she said. “What about us? What about the kids?”
It's Canada, Melanie, the Justice System is entirely criminal centric and almost unconcerned about the victims or potential victims. Liberal government, liberal judges!
Quebec Superior Court Justice Éric Downs is presiding over the hearings and will make the final decision on Ny St-Amand’s criminal responsibility. Both Crown and defence lawyers were expected to make statements Tuesday afternoon, and Downs will return with a verdict at a later date.
OPP issue warrant for ‘dangerous offender’ who attacked 5-year-old child
Just weeks after Toronto police issued a warning about a high-risk offender they said posed a risk to the community and children, the OPP said that they are on the lookout for Simon Gares.
The OPP’s ROPE Squad said that the 44-year-old man is being sought on a Canada-wide warrant as he has reportedly breached his statutory release.
OPP described him as being around 5’10” tall, while weighing around 170 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes. He has a lengthy list of tattoos including a dragon on his right shoulder, a tribal joker on hos left shoulder, an Irish Cross on his right forearm and “TWISTED” inscribed on his back.
He also has barbed wire tattooed on both wrists with “LIFE IS SIMPLE” written on the right and a star symbol, the number five and “SHY NO” on the left.
Gares was released from prison to reside in a community-based residential facility in Toronto on statutory release March 14, and less than two weeks later, Toronto police issued their warning.
The OPP said he is currently serving an eight-month and seventeen-day sentence for: breach of a long-term supervision order.
Toronto police said they were notifying the public about Gares because of his demonstrated risk to the community and children.
While on statutory release, Gares held numerous conditions, including not entering drinking establishments, not consuming alcohol, not consuming drugs, and following a treatment plan.
Gares was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in 2019 and found to be a dangerous offender, according to police.
Court documents showed Gares’ victim was a five-year-old child who, in 2016, was assaulted while entering a bakery with his mother and brother.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing Gares kick the child with great force, according to the documents. The young child was rendered temporarily unconscious and taken to hospital.
Court documents also showed that in 2013, Gares “threatened to kill elementary school aged children” when he was angered by the Children’s Aid Society’s refusal to allow him access to his own children.
Records show his lawyer felt these threats to be “sufficiently serious to necessitate informing the police.”
He was convicted on two charges of threatening death, theft, assault with intent to resist arrest and for failing to comply with probation.
Upon his release in 2015, police issued a public warning to about two dozen public schools in his former neighborhood, sending home letters to parents about his “threat to public safety.”
— with files from Global News
No comments:
Post a Comment