[Dion]

Feds review law after news of bus beheader Vince Li's possible escorted leaves

Nicholson said Canadians have expressed concerns about the risks posed by people who are found to be not criminally responsible.


"They are worried that those who have committed very serious and violent acts and who represent a threat to the community may be released onto our streets," Nicholson wrote in a statement.

McLean's mother, Carol de Delley, said Monday letting Li go puts the public at risk. She has long advocated for a law which would keep mentally ill killers such as Li behind bars indefinitely, regardless of any improvement in their illness

Chris Summerville, chief executive officer of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, urged the government not to set public policy based on the highly emotional circumstances of one particular case.


"It was such a grotesque, horrific, ghastly event," said Summerville. "I don't expect to witness that again in my lifetime. To make public policy on one event that is driven by a lot of emotion is not good policy."


Summerville said public safety is crucial but so are individual rights and the two must be balanced. People who pose a high risk to the public are not released but those who are low risk must be, he said.

Li's psychiatrist, Dr. Steven Kremer, told the review board — which looks annually at Li's case — that his patient is on medication and experiencing no symptoms or hallucinations. Assessments have shown him to have a 0.8 per cent chance of reoffending in the next seven years.

http://www.canada.com/news/Feds+revi...811/story.html