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16h ago

Quebec Court Hears Final Arguments on High-Risk Status for Laval Daycare Bus Driver

A ruling will follow a November hearing on the constitutionality of the high-risk regime.

Image
A woman lights a candle at a memorial outside a church close to the site of a daycare centre in Laval, Que, Thursday, February 9, 2023, where a bus crashed into the building killing two children. The man accused of murdering two children and injuring six others after a city bus crashed into Montreal-area daycare is scheduled to stand trial over five weeks beginning April 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Overview

  • The Crown argued the 2023 daycare crash was "cruel, savage, or inhumane" and said there is a significant likelihood of future violence.
  • The defence opposed the application, calling the designation discriminatory and warning it could hinder access to mental health treatment.
  • Psychiatric experts testified to at least a moderate risk of reoffending and estimated the chance of another psychosis episode at better than 50 percent.
  • A high-risk designation would tighten conditions during psychiatric detention and require Superior Court signoff on changes alongside the mental health review board.
  • Pierre Ny St-Amand was found not criminally responsible in April for the Laval bus crash that killed two children and injured six others.