A man who punched two women, one of them pregnant, and spat on a police officer in downtown Victoria last year has been found not criminally responsible because of a severe mental disorder.
Brett Joseph Mountford, 33, was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in connection with the attacks on the two women and assaulting a police officer on March 19, 2021.
Mountford punched a pregnant woman on Pandora Avenue, then, a little while later, struck another woman walking in the area near Johnson and Wharf streets. Later, he spat on the officer who arrested him.
“These assaults on the two women were completely random, entirely unprovoked and very frightening for them,” said Victoria provincial court Judge Christine Lowe.
Mountford was in a dream-like state at the time of the attacks and did not believe the people were real, the judge said in a review of evidence. “It appeared from his comments that he was seeing the world as if he was in a dream, almost a dream he couldn’t escape from.”
As he walked down the street, Mountford saw people laughing and assumed they were dream characters. It frustrated him because he was taking life seriously and they clearly were not.
“They were laughing at stuff and he felt he was being pressured to die,” she said.
Lowe found that although Mountford appreciated the nature of his actions, he was incapable of knowing they were wrong because nothing was real to him.
Defence lawyer Chantelle Sutton welcomed the judge’s decision, saying it would protect the public for a longer duration. “It also allows Mr. Mountford to get the help he has needed for years and never received in the jail system,” said Sutton.
Mountford was transferred from the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional centre to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam in late December. He was certified under the Mental Health Act and involuntarily admitted to the hospital for treatment for ongoing psychosis on Jan. 25. He remains there today.
Mountford had previously been assessed in 2018 and found to have a severe methamphetamine use disorder. He was assessed by a second psychiatrist in January 2020 who concluded Mountford was suffering from psychosis in the context of a severe methamphetamine disorder. The psychiatrist suggested it was also possible Mountford had schizophrenia.
Dr. Sophie Anhoury, medical director of the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, found Mountford’s psychosis might indicate he has an enduring underlying mental disorder such as schizophrenia.
“I find on balance, Mr. Mountford’s underlying psychiatric condition rendered him vulnerable to psychosis and this pre-existing condition does render him a threat to others,” said Lowe.
ldickson@timescolonist.com
