Psychiatric assessment ordered for school kidnapping suspect

The Hamilton man accused of abducting a young boy from Earl Kitchener Public School last week has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment while in custody to see if he’s fit to stand trial.

Dakota Hart, 47, first appeared in a Hamilton court Friday. He’s charged with assault with a weapon, forcibly seizing a person and two counts of breach of probation. In addition, police announced Friday he is facing additional charges of assault and two counts of breach of probation stemming from a separate incident on Sept. 10.

• READ MORE: Witness saves child from kidnapping at Hamilton school
• READ MORE: Hamilton parents on edge after school abduction attempt

Police spokesperson Debbie McGreal-Dinning told CBC Hamilton that she couldn't speak about the additional charges because of the publication ban, but did say that police had asked the public to come forward after Hart was identified if they had any criminal interactions with someone who fit his description.

Hart was lead into the courtroom Friday in shackles, wearing a brown jacket. He had a goatee that had somewhat grown in with stubble, and dark, ear length hair, which he repeatedly ran his hands through.

He did speak during the proceedings, but what he said cannot be reported because of a publication ban. His bail hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and the assessment is supposed to be presented at that time.

Outside the court after Hart’s appearance, lawyer Asgar Manek said Hart is “entitled to” bail, and that his lawyer will be talking to Hart’s parents with the intention of having them come to the bail hearing next week to act as sureties if he is granted bail.

Hart could say something 'damaging' during assessment: lawyer

Manek is not acting as Hart’s lawyer. Geoffrey Read is acting as Hart’s legal counsel, he said, but he was tied up in another courtroom and couldn’t attend Friday’s hearing.

“Being a personal friend of mine, he asked me to look after the matter today,” Manek said. He also said he opposed Hart undergoing a psychiatric assessment before Wednesday’s hearing for a few reasons – chief among them that he might say something while being examined that could be damaging.

“There is (doctor-patient) privilege,” Manek said. “But you never know as to what accidental words could be mentioned, and it could cause problems.”

“He has his own council who may want to give him proper advice and instructions.”

Hart has also had problems with the law outside of Hamilton. He faced six threat-related charges against former Alberta Premier Alison Redford for emails and social media posts in 2012. He was found not guilty on the five charges against Redford, but guilty on a threat charge involving an Alberta justice lawyer.

Hart was in the middle of a bitter custody dispute and break up when he sent the threatening email to an Alberta Justice lawyer in 2012. He was convicted on that count while a jury found him not guilty of five others, including the accusation he had threatened Redford and her daughter. 

In the email to the lawyer, Hart wrote, "I will be hunting you ya b--ch," and also tweeted death threats at the woman.

'I'm going to attack you and try to kill you'

Hart had also been accused of threatening Redford after emails were sent to the prime minister, the governor general and several media outlets including the CBC, saying, "F--k this nazi failed process Redford you and your daughter will f--king pay."

Another email to an employee of the provincial government reads, "Next time I see you in court I'm going to attack you and try to kill you."

Lawyer Adam May was the assigned Crown prosecutor in that case. He told CBC Hamilton that a psychiatric assessment was ordered for Hart in that case too, but he was found fit to stand trial.

He was, however, arrested for causing a disturbance during the jury selection process, when he was screaming and yelling in the jury selection room. "His behaviour while dealing with him in prosecutions in Alberta was erratic," May said.

Most psychiatric assessments to see if an accused is fit to stand trial in Hamilton are handled by St. Joseph's Healthcare. Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, the head of the forensic psychiatry program, told CBC Hamilton that doctors conduct about 75 of these examinations in Hamilton, Niagara and Brant.

Of those 75, about three quarters of people end up being seen as fit to stand trial, he said. "They're still able to understand the fundamental aspects of court," he said. If the person isn't seen as fit to stand trial, they're taken to hospital for treatment until they can.

"You still have to face your trial," he said.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has made new rules in reaction to the incident. Outdoor staff wear will wear high-visibility vests, use two-way radios and work with police to deliver safety messages to students.