A 46-year-old man who was found not criminally responsible in the death of a Toronto police officer should be held at a mental health facility in Whitby, a Crown attorney says.
Crown attorney Michael Feindel made the recommendation to the Ontario Review Board as the board held its first hearing to assess Richard Kachkar's mental illness and treatment plan, and to decide where to send him.
During the hearing in a Toronto courtroom, Feindel asked the five-member tribunal to send Kachkar to Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby for further treatment of his mental illness.
The lakefront facility is considered a medium-security unit, where Kachkar could be granted passes to access the facility’s grounds, Feindel told the hearing.
According to the Crown, Kachkar had a “positive experience” when he spent time at Ontario Shores in the past.
As the family of police Sgt. Ryan Russell sat nearby, Kachkar, who was handcuffed and wearing a winter jacket and khaki pants, mostly stared at the ground and appeared emotionless as the tribunal heard arguments.
During the hearing, Russell’s widow, Christine, delivered a tearful victim impact statement, telling the review board panel about the pain and loss she and her young son are living with.
Clutching photos, Christine Russell said there has been no accountability for the killing of a beloved husband and father who died as he protected Toronto and its citizens.
As family members shed tears in the gallery, Christine Russell described how she informed her son Nolan, who was two when his father was killed, about the death.
She said her son cried and hid his face in pillows, saying his daddy wasn’t coming home because he was in heaven.
Now, when they drive past a snowplow, Nolan asks if that is the snowplow that killed his father, Christine Russell told the hearing.
The tribunal also heard testimony from Dr. Philip Klassen, who was one of the experts to testify at Kachkar’s weeks-long criminal trial.
As Klassen explained Kachkar’s history of mental health issues and his current mental state, the psychiatrist told the hearing that he would seek further examination of Kachkar and order a trial of anti-psychotic medication to treat the illness, if Kachkar was his patient.
The hearing is being held less than a month after a jury found Kachkar not criminally responsible in Russell's death.
Kachkar was behind the wheel of a snowplow that struck and killed the 35-year-old husband and father on a snowy morning in January 2011.
If Kachkar is sent to a psychiatric facility, the Ontario Review Board will review his case annually.
If and when the board decides Kachkar is no longer a significant threat to public safety, he will be released into the community.
After the criminal trial ended, Kachkar was automatically referred to the Ontario Review Board, an independent tribunal that has jurisdiction over people who have been found unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible by Ontario’s courts due to a mental disorder.
Meanwhile, Christine Russell is supporting a Conservative government proposal to change the frequency of hearings for people found not criminally responsible and designated a high-risk offender.
Under the proposal, the time between hearings would be lengthened to three years.
With files from CP24 reporter Katie Simpson.
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