Special court sentences the mentally ill to medical help

The cases to be dealt with by the court mostly involve people accused of crimes on the less serious end of the scale.

Regional Senior Justice Peter Griffiths said people with mental illness have in the past too often ended up in jail for months without getting medical treatment for the conditions that led them into the criminal justice system in the first place.

"That happened much more often than any of us are proud of. And I think that, hopefully with this new system, fewer people will fall between the cracks," said Griffiths, who helped set up the court and is one of its presiding judges.

He added that the court will try to get medical treatment, addiction help and housing for the defendants, and have their charges dropped if possible.

Psychiatrists and other professionals specializing in mental illness will also be on hand to determine whether the accused are fit to stand trial or well enough to be criminally responsible for their crimes.

However, Griffiths said victims of the crimes will be well-served by the court despite its unorthodox approach.

The Crown and the defence attorneys "argue both sides very thoroughly and put the case ultimately before the judge," he said. "I think that it would be very difficult to fool all those people."

Lawyer Heather Perkins-McVey, who has defended mentally ill clients for 18 years and helped set up the court, said people who are not used to the mentally ill may call police when it's not appropriate, and defendants benefit when those in the courtroom understand their special needs.

"When you've got someone, for example, who may suffer from a bipolar disorder, or an explosive disorder, and they start acting out … they're going to appreciate that this person has these problems and try to deal with them accordingly."

So far, the pilot program has helped about 150 defendants, but Perkins-McVey said more than the accused stand to benefit in the long run.

"Part of the goal of the court is to decriminalize those persons by recognizing their actions are caused by mental illness and other factors," she said, "and try to stop that cycle, to try to give them the support they need in the community so that we don't have repeat offenders."

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