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Three months before Menachem Benaroch was charged with the attempted murder of a Montreal police constable in Côte-des-Neiges, a tribunal was advised his inability to address his mental health problems represented a significant risk to public safety.
“Considering Mr. (Benaroch’s) limited insight and ongoing substance use, he continues to represent a significant risk for the safety of the public,” a doctor wrote in a report prepared in March for a Quebec administrative tribunal that heard Benaroch’s case in April. “We suspect that without the supervision of the (tribunal) he would have stopped his medication and follow-up, as he has done repeatedly in the past. However, his condition has been stable over the past year, and he has not shown any signs of psychosis or aggression. Aside from his cannabis use, he has respected his conditions (imposed by the tribunal) and agrees to continue to do so.”
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Based on the assessment that Benaroch, 27, was respecting most of his conditions, the tribunal decided he could continue living on his own outside a hospital as it had ordered in January 2022.
He had been previously detained at a hospital because, on Oct. 21, 2021, a judge at the Montreal courthouse declared Benaroch not criminally responsible of several criminal charges, including sexual assault and the sexual touching of a minor. While the ruling meant Benaroch was not convicted of the crimes he was charged with, the judge ordered that he remain detained at the same hospital where he was evaluated.
Less than three months later, on Jan. 6, 2022, the administrative tribunal composed of three people decided Benaroch was well enough to leave the hospital and live on his own as long as he followed a series of conditions recommended by the people who were treating him. Included among the conditions were requirements that he not consume alcohol or cannabis.
In April, the tribunal decided Benaroch could continue to live outside the hospital despite being advised that he represented a significant risk to public safety. The doctor also advised the tribunal it was evident he was ignoring the order that he not consume cannabis.
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“He spends most of his time at home listening to music and smoking cannabis. He often seems intoxicated (slowed, smelling strongly of cannabis) during appointments, but his behaviour remains appropriate,” the doctor wrote in his report.
On July 26, a Montreal police constable was stabbed when he approached a man at the corner of Westbury and Plamondon Aves. The constable and his partner were responding to calls from people who reported that a man had been seen taking photos a day earlier near a daycare in Côte-des-Neiges.
The constable was taken to a hospital where it was determined his life was not in danger. Montreal police chief Fady Dagher revealed to reporters the suspect in the case had a history of mental health problems and was scheduled to see a psychiatrist the same day the stabbing occurred.
The following day, Benaroch was charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, and one count of carrying a weapon for dangerous purposes.
A judge ordered that Benaroch undergo a 30-day evaluation at a mental health institution to determine whether he could be found not criminally responsible for what happened to the constable.
A report on the evaluation was supposed to be prepared for a hearing at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday, but Quebec Court Judge Manlio Del Negro said he had yet to receive it. The court was informed that Benaroch plans to switch defence lawyers and that Tuesday’s hearing would be carried over to a later date.
The decision made by the tribunal on Jan. 6, 2022, describes Benaroch as having suffered from mental health problems since he was a teenager. He was diagnosed as being possibly schizophrenic with a bipolar disorder. He refused all treatment but, in 2018, was taken to a hospital after he became aggressive.
Two years later, his behaviour worsened and, in June 2020, he ransacked his family’s home and barricaded himself with a knife. His actions required the intervention of a police tactical intervention group and he was taken to a hospital. He was released two days later.
pcherry@postmedia.com
Montreal police officer stabbed during a chase in Côte-des-Neiges
