Latest news with #CourtOfKingsBench
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Youth pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal 2023 Regina shooting
Court of King's Bench in Regina can be seen in this file photo. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) A teenager, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been sentenced in connection with a 2023 homicide in Regina. The youth, who was 15 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of an 18-year-old man in December 2023, according to a Court of King's Bench decision dated May 29. He also pleaded guilty to three other summary offences relating to firearms and failing to abide by court-imposed conditions prior to the shooting. Regina police initially charged the youth with second degree murder in January 2024, shortly after he turned 16. The victim was found the afternoon of Dec. 21, 2023, on Retallack Street in Regina with a head wound. He was taken by ambulance to hospital with a gunshot wound and later pronounced dead, an autopsy later confirming the cause of death. The shooting took place before 2:30 p.m., but police weren't notified until around 4 p.m., when a civilian called in having believed the victim was suffering from an overdose. Court documents identify the victim as Gregory Severight, who had just turned 18 years old at the time of his death. Surveillance video from a nearby home captured what police believe was the sound of a gunshot and then shows a male, identified by police as the guilty youth, leaving the scene. According to one woman's testimony, the youth came to her friend's home a day or two after the homicide and said he 'took someone for a dirt nap', and that he 'put him to sleep forever.' She also testified that he told the group he had shot the person in the head. The youth had a gun and was asking for help to get rid of it, along with his clothing. She described the gun as a sawed-off .22 caliber shotgun with the barrel cut at an angle. According to her testimony, the items were taken and disposed of by members of a gang associated with the house. Court was also shown evidence from Regina police's Forensic Tech Crimes unit, who captured a number of Facebook posts from the youth, including one three days after the homicide that read, 'head shot, give a f*** if ya vest work,' among others. The posts resulted in the youth's arrest at the Paul Dojack Youth Centre. Police also seized the youth's cell phone, leading to further evidence that corroborated the woman's testimony that he was trying to get rid of a gun. '[The youth] therefore admits that on the afternoon of December 21, 2023, he had a gun and while not specifically searching for Mr. Severight on that day, [the youth] admits that he fired a shot in the direction of Mr. Severight, without the intention of injuring him. However, he struck Mr. Severight in the head, and caused his death,' the court decision said, going on to explain the admission was made with advice and assistance from legal counsel. The case is under a publication ban for the youth's name under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as well as any information that could identify the youth, but does outline the circumstances of the young offender. It describes a difficult upbringing and the use of marijuana and alcohol to cope with his mother's violent death. At one point the youth was moved from Regina to Prince Albert over concerns he was apparently being targeted by a Regina-based gang, who had shot at houses he had been residing at. The youth said while his father knew he was in a gang, he did not realize how deeply involved he was. Court also heard he was under the influence of crystal meth at the time of the shooting. The additional details relating to the youth's background and mental health led the court to find his case met the criteria for what's known as Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS). In a joint sentencing submission, the Crown and the defence called for the youth to serve two years in closed custody in a youth facility and a third in the community under conditional supervision. Any violation of various conditions could result in spending the third year in custody. 'The plan evolves over time to specifically address issues and concerns presented by each offender. With IRCS programming, [the youth], hopefully, can be safely reintegrated into society in due course,' the judge said. 'It is recommended that treatment should include but not be limited to a program specific to and treatment for violence related issues as well as his psychological needs; substance abuse intervention, educational and vocational planning, life skills training, community-based criminality and violence prevention plan, psychiatric/psychological care, and other areas of intervention.' The sentence also carries with it a 10-year weapons prohibition. The youth has already spent a year in custody, but the joint submission did not include any deduction for time served. No victim impact statements were received, but the judge wrote 'there is no doubt the offence of manslaughter has had a significant impact on the victims, the family and friends of the deceased.' 'No sentence can address the loss of life or the impact of that loss. All the Court can do is sentence according to law.' Another area of consideration in the sentence were aggravating factors that include a firearm being used, the youth's apparent disregard to the possible harm shooting Severight would cause, and not calling for medical assistance. 'It is aggravating that he was callous in his conduct after the offence, especially bragging and posting photos, showing a failure to understand the seriousness of his conduct,' the decision said. The judge went on to say that while the youth's moral responsibility in the death is still high, but mitigating factors like his age, his minimal prior record, personal circumstances and his acceptance of responsibility through the guilty plea must also be considered. '[The youth] has shown remorse for the victims, and a desire to amend his life and engage in rehabilitative programming. He apologized in Court to the victim's family and to the community,' the decision said. The judge accepted the joint submission. -With files from Caitlin Brezinski
CTV News
6 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Law courts cancel Winnipeg event amid ‘pressing need to make hotel spaces available'
Smoke from a wildfire near Sherridon, Man. is seen on May 28, 2025. (Michelle Reimer) The Manitoba Court of King's Bench, along with the Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench, have cancelled a joint event amid 'the pressing need to make hotel spaces available.' In a statement made Sunday, the event was described as a 'joint education session' that was to be held in Winnipeg the week of June 2. Premier Wab Kinew previously stated that 'the hotels are already full across Manitoba,' prompting the provincial government to set up congregate shelters for wildfire evacuees. Roughly 17,000 people in the province are being evacuated in northern Manitoba, with many evacuees anticipated to come to Winnipeg. The statement also cites the state of emergency in both provinces as a reason behind the cancellation. 'The courts are mindful of the serious and devastating impact these fires are having on communities in both provinces and of the institutional need to provide support to the efforts already underway,' reads the statement. Correction: An earlier version of this story included the number of conferences coming to Winnipeg in June. We are updating that number and regret the error.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Psychiatrist: Hamp was ‘acutely and severely psychotic' the night he killed his girlfriend
A forensic psychiatrist who assessed Thomas Hamp after fatally stabbed his girlfriend said he was 'acutely and severely psychotic' the night of the attack. Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe testified and provided Court of King's Bench a 25-page psychiatric assessment Monday, where he said obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder and cannabis use disorder were all 'relevant' to Hamp's psychosis but said he couldn't tell how much which of the three contributed. Hamp is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Emily Sanche on Feb. 20, 2022. Hamp does not deny killing Sanche. His defence lawyer is arguing he is not criminally responsible because he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the attack. Lohrasbe told the court Hamp 'was out of touch with objective reality' when he stabbed Sanche. 'I think the information I have suggests that mental disorder was the primary factor,' Lohrasbe said. Lohrasbe was hired by the defence to conduct his assessment, which took place over two in-person meetings and one virtual meeting. With roughly 40 years of experience and hundreds of testimonies in court, Lohrasbe said he had never seen anything like the detailed notes and documentation he also pored over as part of his assessment. Sanche was studying to obtain her master's degree in counselling and kept detailed notes of Hamp's condition in the weeks leading up to the attack. Emily Sanche - Thomas Hamp Emily Sanche (Source: Dignity Memorial) The court learned during previous testimony that Sanche's cousin Catherine also compiled a detailed list of notes using text messages exchanged with Sanche. 'I have rarely seen something so poignant and so close to the tragic events in question,' Lohrasbe said. Hamp believed he and Sanche were the targets of a secret police, that he was surrounded by pedophiles and his medication would brainwash and chemically castrate him. The trial originally began in September 2024, but had to be adjourned because of letters Hamp wrote to his parents while in jail. These letters weren't turned over to police or the court until shortly before the trial began, and Lohrasbe needed to review his assessment before testifying. A previous batch of letters was used in evidence in the trial, where Hamp wrote he believed his paranoia and ensuing psychosis were caused by the weed he was smoking. Hamp previously told the court he quit smoking weed two days before the attack after Sanche believed it was contributing to his delusions and asked him to stop. On Monday, Lohrasbe testified cannabis use and schizophrenia can heighten a mental disorder. On the night of the attack, Lohrasbe said Hamp's 'moral compass was hijacked by his psychotic episode' and the idea of killing Sanche came abruptly. According to Lohrasbe's testimony, Hamp believed he needed to kill Sanche and himself to avoid a worse fate. Hamp believed Sanche would be made to breed and tortured to death. Hamp stabbed himself and recovered in hospital. The trial continues Tuesday with the Crown cross-examining Lohrasbe.
CBC
27-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Crown quizzes psychiatrist in Saskatoon murder trial about potential motive, impact of potent cannabis
Social Sharing The Crown in the Thomas Hamp murder trial in Saskatoon is suggesting the 28-year-old was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed his partner Emily Sanche three years ago. Prosecutor Cory Bliss raised the theory while cross-examining defence witness Shabehram Lohrasbe, a forensic psychiatrist who did an assessment on Hamp, who is charged with second-degree murder and on trial at Court of King's Bench before Justice Grant Currie. Lohrasbe did not disagree with Bliss, noting "this reality poses a dilemma." "There is the possibility this is all the result of cannabis, but we won't know." Lohrasbe concluded in his report, based on five hours of interviews with Hamp and a review of notes kept by Sanche and her cousin, that Hamp "was acutely and severely psychotic" when he fatally stabbed the 25-year-old in their apartment on Feb. 20, 2022. "Psychosis was the dominant factor that drove his violence," Lohrasbe wrote in his 25-page assessment. "It is likely that his capacity to 'know' that his actions were wrong, in the real world, was severely impaired." In the report, Lohrasbe said his conclusion acknowledged that Hamp's severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and cannabis use disorder both could have contributed to the psychotic episode. But he said the degree to which they influenced what happened could never be known. Bliss quizzed Lohrasbe on the general impact of today's high-potency cannabis on mental health. The B.C. doctor has practised psychiatry for four decades and said cannabis potency today is a far cry from the "hippie pot" he encountered at the start of his career. Lohrasbe said that, because of this potency, a drug-induced psychosis from cannabis could look like mental illness. Bliss said this has significant implications in this case, because a psychotic break caused by substances changes whether an accused is criminally responsible. Lohrasbe added that the detailed notes and text messages written by Sanche, who was studying for a master's degree in counselling and expressed concerns about her partner's deteriorating mental health in the year before he killed her, and notes take by Sanche's cousin, Catherine, are "incredibly important documents" because of the objective insights they provide into his behaviour. Bliss questioned whether it's possible that Sanche's notes detailing how Hamp needed professional help could have provided a motive for the attack. Hamp was supposed to go to the hospital the day he killed Sanche and Bliss suggested that he could have seen this as Sanche pulling back in the relationship and abandoning him. "I get your point," Lohrasbe replied. "But that's been ongoing [the notes] and I fail to see how that translates into abandoning him." Hamp originally told a neighbour and police that a man had broken into the third-floor apartment and attacked the couple. He recanted that later, saying that he stabbed Sanche and then himself. Bliss suggested that Hamp concocted the intruder story and then stabbed himself to support the alibi. Lohrasbe said that was possible, "but we'll never know." The defence closed its case after Lohrasbe's testimony. Bliss then successfully applied to recall Hamp to question him on the contents of the assessment. He asked Hamp about the impact of his cannabis use, in reference to a letter he wrote. While in custody after Sanche's death, Hamp wrote a letter to Emily's cousin, Catherine. In the letter, entered as an exhibit, he speaks about his escalating paranoia in the fall of 2021. "I did not believe it at the time, but I now think this paranoia and ensuing psychosis were caused by the weed I was smoking," he wrote. Lohrasbe had testified that the independent documentation of his deteriorating mental health from Emily and Catherine Sanche is so important because when people are psychotic, their mental landscape is rapidly evolving.
CBC
26-05-2025
- CBC
Man sentenced to life in prison for 2021 killing of rural Manitoba neighbour
Social Sharing Clifford Joseph's family didn't express their grief through words at the sentencing of the man convicted of killing him almost four years ago — but they still showed up to court Monday to watch as Eric Wildman was handed a life sentence for Joseph's murder. Wildman, now 38, sat in the prisoner's box in a Winnipeg courtroom wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans, wrists and ankles shackled, as Court of King's Bench Justice Richard Saull officially handed down his automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years during a brief hearing Monday morning. In February, a jury convicted Wildman of first-degree murder in 40-year-old Joseph's June 2021 death. Prosecutors argued during the weeks-long trial Wildman hit Joseph with his vehicle when he caught the victim trying to steal from him on or around June 7, 2021, in the village of Stead, Man., about 80 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, then took the injured man to another location where he executed him. When Joseph's remains were finally found after a lengthy search, he had a broken leg and jaw. But prosecutors have said what killed him were three gunshots, including one to the back of the head. Justice Saull said Monday whether the jury was persuaded that Joseph's killing was planned and deliberate, or that it was committed while Wildman was forcibly confining him — two paths to first-degree murder prosecutors had argued for — it doesn't change the gravity of the facts proven at trial. "The facts are horrific," Saull said, as family members of Joseph and Wildman listened from the gallery. "And whatever version of facts the jury accepted, it amounts to an execution — plain and simple." WATCH | Lawyers for man accused of killing neighbour argue Crown's case based on speculation: Lawyers for man accused of killing neighbour argue Crown's case based on speculation 4 months ago Duration 1:46 Lawyers for a man accused of murdering his neighbour in a rural Manitoba village in 2021 told jurors hearing Eric Wildman's trial on Wednesday the Crown's case against their client was built on "nothing more than assumption and speculation." Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft said while Joseph's family chose not to read victim impact statements at Wildman's sentencing for what he called a "particularly gruesome and heinous" murder, they may later provide statements to the Parole Board of Canada. Vanderhooft also commented on the fact that immediately after Joseph's death, Wildman was on the run and subject to a manhunt for days in 2021 before he was found at a home near Belleville, Ont., where he was convicted of firing at officers when they attempted to enter. "If ever there was post-offence conduct that would suggest somebody's aware of the conduct and guilty of the charges, this is pretty convincing," Vanderhooft said. "As if the murder weren't bad enough, he could have killed the police officers too, as a result of this." Court heard Wildman has since been sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempted murder in that incident, and that the Ontario sentence won't affect when he's eligible for parole on the Manitoba conviction — which will be 25 years from his June 2021 arrest. Defence calls sentence 'devastating' Wildman's lawyer Martin Glazer, who previously said he plans to file an appeal in the Manitoba case, called the life sentence "devastating" for his client, who Glazer said has autism spectrum disorder and a full-scale IQ of 72. "His cognitive ability is at the threshold of impairment," Glazer said, adding a psychological assessment found Wildman meets the definition of a vulnerable person who would be eligible for support services in Manitoba. During closing arguments in Wildman's murder trial, Glazer argued his client was wrongfully accused as part of an "absurd" theory prosecutors came up with based on a police investigation Glazer said was defined by tunnel vision. Glazer told jurors there was no evidence Wildman ever even met Joseph. He said the Crown's theory — that Wildman "suddenly becomes a cold-blooded murderer" who killed Joseph when the victim tried to steal what Glazer called "maybe a $50" trailer winch from his property — doesn't make any sense. But prosecutors said the timing in the case was of paramount importance — from how Wildman changed the hood on his damaged vehicle shortly after prosecutors say Joseph was hit by a vehicle then killed, to how Wildman left the province when police told him they were going to arrest him for murder. That trial was the second Wildman faced in Joseph's death, after a mistrial was declared in the first one in June 2023, when Glazer experienced a medical issue and Wildman exercised his right not to continue in the trial without his lawyer. Glazer said Monday Wildman was also bullied in school, and his psychological report noted he "would easily have been a target by others, given a history of social skill limitations, learning difficulties and significant articulatory problems." "Eric has suffered a great deal while in custody while waiting for this trial, while waiting for the outcome of this trial. And he will not have an easy time in prison, given his intellectual disabilities and limited … coping ability," Glazer said.
