Bid to stop community visits for Toronto cop's killer denied
By Michele Mandel ,Toronto Sun First posted: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 12:10 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 07:12 PM EDT
TORONTO - The Ontario Court of Appeal has refused to revoke the escorted community passes granted to Richard Kachkar, the man found not criminally responsible for killing Sgt. Ryan Russell.
The province’s highest court has upheld a controversial decision last year by the Ontario Review Board to allow Kachkar the lenient privileges. The ORB enraged Russell’s widow and caught both sides by surprise when it ignored a joint submission by the defence and Crown and actually granted Kachkar even more freedom than they’d requested at his hearing last April.
Both lawyers for Kachkar and the attorney general had recommended that Kachkar be held in medium security at Whitby’s Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and be granted escorted visits on the hospital’s grounds. Instead, the five-member ORB ruled that he should also be allowed supervised visits into the community.
The court of appeal agreed with the ORB that escorted community visits “would not compromise community safety.”
While suffering a psychotic break, the homeless St. Catharines man stole an idling snowplow in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2011 and ran down Russell during a bizarre rampage up and down Avenue Rd.
But psychiatrists could not agree on a diagnosis.
In January, the Crown appealed the ORB decision, arguing that Kachkar’s diagnosis remains unclear and he continues to pose a danger. “The uncertainty around Mr. Kachkar’s mental condition ... creates serious issues with respect to public safety,” Eric Siebenmorgen told the appeal court. “In the event that something were to go wrong ... hospital staff would not intervene.”
He requested a new hearing where the issue of community passes can be “properly considered.”
Kachkar’s lawyer, Peter Copeland, contended his client has proven to be a “model” patient who has shown remorse and takes his medication.
Like all patients deemed NCR, Kachkar has an annual review by the board to determine his progress and eventual readiness for discharge. His next review is scheduled for later this month.
Richard Kachkar. (Facebook photo)
Bid to stop community visits for Toronto cop's killer denied | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
By Michele Mandel ,Toronto Sun First posted: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 12:10 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 07:12 PM EDT
TORONTO - The Ontario Court of Appeal has refused to revoke the escorted community passes granted to Richard Kachkar, the man found not criminally responsible for killing Sgt. Ryan Russell.
The province’s highest court has upheld a controversial decision last year by the Ontario Review Board to allow Kachkar the lenient privileges. The ORB enraged Russell’s widow and caught both sides by surprise when it ignored a joint submission by the defence and Crown and actually granted Kachkar even more freedom than they’d requested at his hearing last April.
Both lawyers for Kachkar and the attorney general had recommended that Kachkar be held in medium security at Whitby’s Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and be granted escorted visits on the hospital’s grounds. Instead, the five-member ORB ruled that he should also be allowed supervised visits into the community.
The court of appeal agreed with the ORB that escorted community visits “would not compromise community safety.”
While suffering a psychotic break, the homeless St. Catharines man stole an idling snowplow in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2011 and ran down Russell during a bizarre rampage up and down Avenue Rd.
But psychiatrists could not agree on a diagnosis.
In January, the Crown appealed the ORB decision, arguing that Kachkar’s diagnosis remains unclear and he continues to pose a danger. “The uncertainty around Mr. Kachkar’s mental condition ... creates serious issues with respect to public safety,” Eric Siebenmorgen told the appeal court. “In the event that something were to go wrong ... hospital staff would not intervene.”
He requested a new hearing where the issue of community passes can be “properly considered.”
Kachkar’s lawyer, Peter Copeland, contended his client has proven to be a “model” patient who has shown remorse and takes his medication.
Like all patients deemed NCR, Kachkar has an annual review by the board to determine his progress and eventual readiness for discharge. His next review is scheduled for later this month.
Richard Kachkar. (Facebook photo)
Bid to stop community visits for Toronto cop's killer denied | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun