Quebec bus driver in fatal daycare crash unable to tell right from wrong, 2nd expert tells court

Morgan Lowrie · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 4:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 35 minutes ago

A 2nd psychiatrist told a proceedings connected Tuesday that the antheral accused of sidesplitting 2 children and injuring six others erstwhile helium drove a metropolis autobus into a Montreal-area daycare was incapable to separate close from wrong.

Dr. Sylvain Faucher testified that Pierre Ny St-Amand was experiencing psychotic symptoms connected Feb. 8, 2023 and should not beryllium held criminally liable — meaning a intelligence upset rendered him incapable of appreciating the quality of his actions oregon knowing they were wrong.

After Crown authoritative Karine Dalphond work retired the explanation of not criminally liable successful the Laval, Que., courtroom, Faucher replied: "I judge helium responds to that."

Ny St-Amand, 53, is accused of ramming a autobus into the Laval daycare, sidesplitting a four-year-old lad and a five-year-old girl. After the crash, Ny St-Amand stood wrong the mangled autobus and undressed, speaking and yelling incoherently earlier being subdued by parents connected the scene.

Faucher testified Tuesday that imaginable untreated post-traumatic accent upset from Ny St-Amand's puerility arsenic an orphan successful war-torn Cambodia near him "fragile" to stressors successful his life.

The psychiatrist said it's intolerable to cognize wherefore Ny St-Amand acted successful the mode helium did, but helium speculated that helium mightiness person attacked the daycare during his psychosis arsenic a mode of "killing his ain past."

"We tin inquire whether the nexus exists betwixt the important traumas experienced by the accused during his puerility and the information that, during an occurrence of illness, helium aimed astatine individuals of a comparable property to his ain erstwhile helium suffered assorted maltreatment and was confronted by highly tragic situations," Faucher told the court.

"This supposes helium knew helium was crashing into a daycare, astatine immoderate level."

Accused likely experiencing psychosis: expert

On Monday, Dr. Kim Bedard-Charette told the archetypal time of the proceedings that the accused was apt experiencing psychosis astatine the clip helium drove the autobus into the building.

Faucher evaluated Ny St-Amand separately astatine the petition of the Crown and reached mostly the aforesaid conclusion, though helium characterized the psychotic occurrence arsenic "brief" alternatively than "unspecified," arsenic Bedard-Charette had.

In effect to their evaluations, some the Crown and defence told the tribunal successful February that they would contiguous the facts of Ny St-Amand's lawsuit jointly and urge a verdict of not criminally responsible.

According to documents filed successful court, Ny St-Amand was calved successful Cambodia successful 1972, soon earlier the Khmer Rouge began a brutal regularisation that is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 cardinal people.

Both his parents died arsenic a effect of the conflict, and helium doesn't cognize his existent surname oregon birthday. He was moved to antithetic exile camps nether the guardianship of a cousin, who besides died. He was physically assaulted by the cousin's wife, who strung him up by his feet and bushed him. In 1982, helium was sent to Canada by a humanitarian bureau and adopted by a Quebec family.

Faucher told the tribunal that Ny St-Amand's past and deficiency of adjacent idiosyncratic relationships, adjacent with his woman and adopted family, meant that helium was poorly equipped to header with stressors that mightiness look unremarkable to others. Those included a costly household travel planned to Disney World and his impending matrimony to his longtime partner.

Like Bedard-Charette, Faucher said Ny St-Amand had exhibited galore of the classical symptoms of psychosis, including agitation, representation loss, delirium and unusual behaviour. As an example, Faucher noted that aft his arrest, Ny St-Amand was recovered bare successful his cell, walking an imaginary enactment connected the floor.

As the grounds was given, the accused stared consecutive ahead, sometimes closing his eyes and appearing to concisely motion off.

Parent says Ny St-Amand being treated arsenic victim

Mélanie Goulet, whose girl survived aft being trapped nether the bus, told reporters extracurricular the courtroom connected Tuesday that she felt similar Ny St-Amand was being treated arsenic a victim.

"Basically, they were trying to warrant his actions by his past, but we each person a past, we each person accent successful our life," she said.

Ny St-Amand, she added, is receiving much assistance and attraction than the victims. "He's been successful a installation with a truly large squad and everything for his recovery," she said. "What astir us? What astir the kids?"

Quebec Superior Court Justice Eric Downs is presiding implicit the hearings and volition marque the last determination connected Ny St-Amand's transgression responsibility.

Both Crown and defence lawyers were expected to marque statements Tuesday afternoon, and Downs volition instrumentality with a verdict astatine a aboriginal date.